It was the day before the Silph Cup championship race, with Josh only having been out of the hospital for a couple of days. His back still stung from the Doublade wounds, but they were at least bearable with some pain medication. While he might not perform his best at the race, he could still participate. His time trial went extremely well, though his exact position wouldn't be revealed until the day of the race, as all the competitors were kept in isolation during the time trial runs. He could have found out from asking his fans who watched the coverage live, but he had better things to do with his time, particularly when it didn't matter for him to know until the day of the event.

All six of Josh's Eeveelutions were out, ready to start running when he noticed a familiar face standing next to a large clump of Rawst Berries that had fallen from a tree. "Janus, ALLY SWITCH!" Josh commanded, ready to test his skills in riding a teleporting Pokémon. His vision faded to white, then faded back in next to Wren, Kamuy having to swerve out of the way of the clump of Rawst Berries that suddenly appeared in front of him. "Good, all things considered," he greeted the Ranger. "Have you read the news recently?"

Pinky, Kaumy, and Clyde caught up to Janus first, Blinky next, with Inky keeping his distance. The three that made it seemed happy to play with Juno and Wren's other Eevee. Even Janus wasn't as stoic as normal, letting out a couple of soft cries to socialize with the Eevee. "Right, you're trying to make your way up the Ranger ranks, aren't you? My light red Senior Ranger uniform should be coming soon. I'm just waiting for the new Mauville Captain to submit my paperwork to HQ. With annalise henderson being a Head Ranger now, I can't rely on how quick she was with submitting paperwork like that."

"Yes, something awful, I'll try to keep it short, but a lot happened so fast. Earlier this month, when I was closing my Gym down for the day, I was the target of an assassination attempt." The Mauville Leader let that sink in before continuing. "PSPN reported on it while I was in the hospital for eleven days. I wouldn't be surprised if the mainstream media pick it up soon. Absolutely no reported progress on it by Law Enforcement, and it's been a while. I'm scared the case will go cold."

"I am," Josh answered. "Rehab, if you will. I probably should have pulled out, but I'm not going to miss the Silph Cup's last event of the season for anything." He still had a Gym Trainer doing all his official challenges for him, too. "Glad you're having a lot of success! We should sign up for some work together in the off-season." Despite being a Gym Leader full time now, the young man still had passion for Ranger work.

Wren was right. It was a lot to go through, especially before the biggest event of the season. It was a minor miracle he was going to be able to race at all, even with the help of prescription-strength pain relievers. "I should be okay now. Comes with holding an office; there are always people out there that want to see your head roll. Look at what happened to Melody Miro ." The idol and standing Elite Four member was also the target of an assassination not too long ago. Josh frowned when asked about the investigation. "Unfortunately, I can't comment on that. I wish I could tell you more, but I'm simply not at liberty to say. Where you headed?" the Leader abruptly changed the subject. "If we're headed the same direction, one of my Pokémon could get you there a lot faster. It looks like the little ones want to run, too!" Josh remarked about how excited Juno seemed to be.

The name Ollie brought some fond memories flooding back to Josh. It was the day Josh earned his red Ranger uniform, Aslan masquerading as the alpha of a pride of wild Litleo and Pyroar to make the desert pass, Route 111, safe for people to traverse again. Pyroar were no joke. "I used to work closely with Ollie. Good times," he started to reminisce aloud about his Pride Lands Rout.

As the two continued south, it seemed like the two were headed in the same direction. "If we're both headed south, want to go riding together?" Josh asked, now on foot to give Wren the first choice. "Might help you decide what you want to evolve the little ones into." Inky was getting a bit annoyed at Juno circling him, but the rest seemed relaxed about it. Especially Pinky; the Sylveon tried to tickle the excited Normal-type with her feelers every so often.

Networking wasn't a skill he was great at, but Josh would never have gotten into the position he was in without networking with so many high ranking League officials. It all started with Councilwoman Elinor Anderson recruiting him into the Rangers. And now, he was not only rapidly rising through the Rangers' ranks, but he was a Major League Gym Leader. "Take it from my experience, Wren," Josh replied after laughing alongside him, "you can be the most talented in the world in your field, and it won't do you a bit of good without connections." When one of your greatest connections is someone on the Council, your voice is going to get heard. Perhaps a bit louder than it should.

"If Juno's big enough, maybe you'll get to do this yourself!" Josh attempted to encourage Wren after he agreed wit him that traveling on a Pokémon would get them to Slateport much faster. "We can always switch off after a leg of the trip. Highway 110 is really long." The Leader thought about what to recommend, and there was only one point that came to mind. "Probably not Blinky. Not after what happened with Braver that night," Josh recalled Wren nearly passing out after pushing the Arcanine to incredible speeds. That Jolteon was almost as fast. Almost. "Any of the others I'm cool with!" With that, Josh walked over to Blinky, swung his leg over the electric-type, and mounted up to force the issue.

Pinky looked excited to be approached, though her deep squeals may have been creepy sounding to those not used to them. She gently touched Wren with her feelers before pointing one of them toward her saddle and crouching to let the young Ranger climb aboard easily. "She's pretty easy to work with," Josh added. "Not saying she can't run fast, but she shouldn't give you any trouble." Blinky's paws started sparking again, a sign of the Jolteon's impatience. "Now slow it down, girl," he chided the electric-type. "Keep pace with Pinky. Wren's trying to learn, okay? You can let loose on the way back to Mauville." That promise was enough for the excited Eeveelution to listen to her trainer and hold back.

"She won't make any sharp turns, but she can run fast for a long time," Josh described what to expect. As he bragged about her strengths, the Sylveon ran her front right paw over the pavement, a sign she was ready to run at Wren's command. His eyes shifted to Juno. "I think Juno will be big enough for you to ride when she evolves," Josh judged from the Eevee's size. "All of them have their strengths and weaknesses. Some are really fast, some can slice through curves like butter, and some can just keep going no matter what punishment you throw at them." Pinky would let out another cry and stand up as soon as Wren was atop her. She was ready for her feelers to flap behind herself in the wind! It was just a matter of how fast Wren wanted to have her run.

Pinky's feelers flapped behind like banners in the breeze as the two Eeveelutions cantered south. It looked like Wren was having a much easier time with the Sylveon than with Braver that fateful night. That Arcanine, when pushed to Extreme Speed, gave even the semi-pro Pokémon racer trouble. Still numbing to Josh, it truly was speed only the most highly skilled professionals could handle. He had a ways to go before he reached that level of speed tolerance, but it was a necessary step on the way to befriending and riding Raikou. That was a Pokémon that transcended human limits, and would require him to do so if he wanted to realize his dream. "I wish I could show you a Vaporeon," Josh voiced his regret aloud. "Being able to both run and swim makes them flexible for travel." The other notable absentee from his roster was a Leafeon.

The rest of his Pokémon, of course, ran alongside those that carried Josh and Wren. "Might want to keep an eye on how the others run, too. Could help you decide if you get tired on the way and need to slow down." Clyde's strides, for one, looked quite powerful, as did Kamuy's. "Go at whatever pace you're comfortable with! Don't need you passing out again!" the Leader teased. "You don't think I forgot about that night, did you?"