TO: Josh Devlin (josh.devlin@hoennleague.gov)
CC: ghost fireheart (ghost.fireheart@hoennrangers.gov)
MISSION: "No Yodeling Allowed"
PROTOCOL: Search-and-Rescue
DANGER: ★★☆☆☆

A twelve-year-old boy and his Absol have gone missing in the Slateport Hills area west of Route 110. He is around 5'2", around 125 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing blue slacks and a white tee. The two were last seen on the southeast side of the mountain, up the river feeding Littleroot Bay. His Absol's Poké Ball is broken, and will need to be transported manually.

Your mission is to rescue the young boy and his Absol and ensure they get to Slateport City safely. While we are unable to obtain exact coordinates due to insufficient signal strength, we were successful in triangulating the boy's coordinates within a one mile radius. Please see attached local area map for the radius' central coordinates.

Good luck! We're all counting on you.


After all the rough missions Josh had to go through with ollie morales , annalise henderson , and Razz Kingsman , it felt great to be able to go back to the basics for a simple Search-and-Rescue with little potential for complications. There was not a cloud in the sky, with almost no wind, and the temperature was almost ideal. The job didn't pay very well, but it was right for the level of risk he took on. The real risk was in Josh's choice of mount. He was surveying Route 110 from the back of Kokusho, his Hydreigon. While the three-headed dragon was better behaved than most of his kind, that wasn't saying a lot.

The six-winged Pokémon was proving to be a headache to control, each of his three heads independently tugging at the complex set of reins Josh held in his hand. He couldn't even take his hands off them to look at his phone; controlling the proud creature required a firm hold with both his hands at all times. Josh could feel his mount pulling on him with every turn, his skin tingling with every turn the Hydreigon made.

As the two surveyed the foothills, a man matching the physical description of the coworker he was assigned for the mission came into view. "Come on, Kokusho, let's land. Gently." While it was gentle by Hydreigon standards, the descent was far from smooth by Josh's. The two touched down, the red-uniformed Ranger greeting Ghost with a wave, a visible red mark on each of his hands from how hard Kokusho was pulling the reins. "...Ghost?" he asked for confirmation he had the right Ranger. Twin sheaths containing his Doublade, Yagyu, hung from his hips.

With a name like Ghost, which Josh thought couldn't have been the man's real first name, being not as forthcoming as he would have liked came as no surprise. There was nothing wrong with a pseudonym, though! His old racing rival, Matus Baran , went by a pseudonym, after all!

Ghost's defensive reaction to Kokusho did not surprise Josh one bit. After all, the entire evolutionary line, even Deino, were some of the most naturally aggressive Pokémon around. Josh hung the three-headed Pokémon's reins at the end of the saddle before dismounting; unlike with the rest of his Pokémon, there were two hooks instead of one to accommodate their unusual with due to his three sets of halters. Kokusho's three pairs of eyes shifted rapidly and warily, looking for a wild Pokémon to pounce.

Provided Ghost would confirm that Josh had the correct person, the tenured Ranger would introduce himself. "Senior Ranger Devlin or Gym Leader Devlin, but I go by Josh. Great to meet you. I understand that I'll be working with you to find a lost boy and his Absol. Did you review the RangerNet briefing? They've got it triangulated down to about a mile." Now that he didn't have his hands full controlling a dragon that rode like a wild Pokémon, he could check his phone and load the email attachment showing the radius. "It's a lot of area to cover. You have a few flying Pokémon? If not, I've got you covered."

"Pokémon Chaser?" Josh asked. "You might call me one of those, too." The Mauville Leader looked frazzled for a few seconds, conflicted about whether to share the subject of his chase with Ghost. If he was a Ranger and tamed a Salamence, then he could probably be trusted. The words of Laurence Anderson rang in his head, giving him second thoughts. Plus, he still had suspicions about a mole in the Rangers. Anyone could be the one. As much as it pained him, Josh kept his dream about Raikou to himself.

"No need to be formal with me, Ghost! Josh is fine," he reiterated. "No big deal! We're a long way from Slateport or Mauville, so it would make sense for your Pokémon to be tired." As a Pokémon racer, Josh's entire squad was built to handle ferrying people around. Perhaps more than a little faster most people were comfortable going, but minor details. He would want to have the other flying Pokémon out and about to help with the search, anyway.

Josh undid the snaps covering three of the Poké Balls on his belt, calling forth the three other flying Pokémon within: Yosei the Salamence, who immediately edged toward Ghost and looked eager for flight; Ares the Charizard, whose tail flame burned bright and tall; and Bladestorm the Skarmory, whose eyes shifted for a poor wild Pokémon to rend his talons through. "These three are Yosei, Ares, and Bladestorm," he introduced the flying Pokémon, all of which were in full riding gear, much like the Hydreigon...except much simpler to control. "You're welcome to Kokusho, my Hydreigon, as well, but he can be...a handful." The black dragon's three heads tilted toward Ghost, excited for a new friend to challenge.

If Ghost had been to Mauville Gym since John Sullivan passed the Gym to Josh, it would be obvious which legendary Pokémon he would be chasing. There was no closing that Pandora's Box though; it was clear that no matter what the vector was, Josh's desire to meet Raikou was known. The level of devotion he had to the cause, and on just what level he was willing to submit to the Beast was something he kept close to his heart, but at this point he was at least known among Rangers as the one who chased Raikou.

"Thanks so much," Josh humbly accepted Ghost's compliment. "Not enough trainers understand that. As Mauville's Gym Leader, I want to teach every one of my challengers and regulars how important it is to care for each and every one of your Pokémon. I want to make every single one of mine feel important." Of course, with the large collection of Pokémon Josh needed to maintain for his Gym, he would need to defer some of that responsibility to his Gym Trainers. He did truly care about each and every Pokémon on his team, and while it was impossible to give all of them as much as attention as he would have liked, the Gym was a great outlet for them to run, swim, or fly playfully.

The Skarmory looked excited to take to the air with Ghost as a guest rider. "Bladestorm can get a bit aggressive, but he's reliable. If you can handle it, he loves diving." The Skarmory sounded a metallic screech of approval. "Hop on, hold his reins, and control him like you would any other flying Pokémon. Now, let's get in the air and find us a boy and his Absol." With that, Josh mounted his Hydreigon once more, grunting at the dark-type's powerful ascent. Josh's other dragons scattered, keeping their eyes open for the lost one.

While Ghost could tell the trust between he and Bladestorm were tenuous at best, the large Skarmory trusted Josh's judgment that the guest was a competent enough rider to fully control him. Blatant about the way he was going to test Ghost, he was picking up altitude fast. Every stroke of his powerful, metallic wings may have felt like the two were being flung higher into the air.

The much more heavyset Hydreigon simply could not keep up. Kokusho was one of Josh's slower dragon Pokémon, but was nothing short of brutal in combat, with the stamina to keep going for far longer than almost any other Pokémon on his team. Consequently, he could fly for very long distances without tiring. He was almost like the flying counterpart to Nitro, the Mauville Leader's Gogoat, in that regard.

Josh reined the Hydreigon around the outer edge of the radius specified in the briefing, keeping a fairly low altitude while looking for signs of the boy and his Absol. His Pokémon's left and center head obeyed Josh's command, though the right head was distacted by a Stantler foal his brutal, predatory instincts wanted to make a meal out of. The Leader tugged back with his right hand. "Not now!" Josh shouted, exhaling. This made him want to put outside blinders on the left and right heads when riding.

Meanwhile, with Bladestorm and Ghost high in the air, well above the guest rider's detailed vision of the mountainside, the Metal Menace entered a dive. The blades beneath the leading edge of his wings started humming like a resonating series of turning forks, building up compressed air that would typically be released in the form of a destructive AIR CUTTER. This was not to attack, though; this was a test of the rider's grit to try to earn his full trust.

The steel-type released his destructive AIR CUTTER as he pulled up, slicing a few trees in two and even displacing rock around the points of impact. Ghost may have felt the sensation of his weight being multiplied, pushing him into the saddle hard. Ghost's remarks were understandable; while the dive was fun for the Skarmory, they did need to stay on task. The Metal Menace fully relinquished control to Ghost, the guest rider able to take full manual control with his reins.

As Josh and Kokusho wheeled around, he received a comms message from Ghost. "Cadet Ghost, this is Senior Ranger Devlin, hear you loud and clear." He listened to his partner relay the Absol's location. "Great work. Kokusho and I are on the way. Stand by, over." With that, Josh squeezed his legs against the Hydreigon's tough scales, and they slowly accelerated. Hydreigon were not very fast, but did they ever have destructive power. The slower speed made finding their target easier, too. "There it is, Kokusho. Let's look for the boy and get them out of here." With that, the two descended to approach the Absol.

While squeezing Bladestorm's sides would normally be a command to speed up, the Skarmory was also very intelligent, like most Pokémon were. He knew to follow his trainer's lead. Josh watched the two circle downward toward the Absol, the Metal Menace landing and letting Ghost dismount. The Leader swooped Kokusho in for a low flight, preferring to stay in the saddle. His Hydreigon's six wings letting him hover, unlike many other winged dragons that could not do so.

Josh felt the sharp recoil of all three of his mount's heads against the reins as they fired a warning FLASH CANNON well wide of the Absol. "Kokusho, this is serious! I need you to behave, please!" With a shake of his heads, the dark-type beat his wings hard twice, flicking his back up and down in a rough flailing motion. "Ow!" Josh yelped as the snap of the bucking motion coursed through him.

With Ghost's and the wild Absol's guidance, it did not take Josh long to locate the boy...and he was in peril. The young one had survived a mudslide by hiding behind a thick, rocky outcropping, but the mod had pooled around him, leaving him stuck. "Unfortunately I don't have a water Pokémon here," the Senior Ranger answered. "The briefing never said anything about a mudslide, or I'd have come more prepared. I'll have to try airlifting him out. Ares, you're up!" The Charizard emerged from his Poké Ball and immediately saw the young one at risk, flying toward him. "Hey!" the Ranger shouted toward the trapped one, unable to get particularly close due to the breadth of the disaster area. "Grab my Charizard's claw! He'll try to pull you out of the mud!"