Indeed, Josh was doing some maintenance on the Gym. He had it closed for the holiday, the place being rented out for the Paldean Cyclizar Racing League next week. While it wouldn't look good for his numbers to see challenges dip, it would not only bring a tremendous amount of income to the Gym, but there were rumors flying around that the real reason for their visit was to merge into Hoenn's branch of the Pokémon Racing Federation. This would be extremely big news for Josh, being Hoenn's professional racing ambassador now.

There were barricades being put into place along boundaries of the sectors containing aquatic and aerial race courses. He was still disappointed at how little use his aquatic courses were seeing; he only got a handful of challengers each month. It made sense, though; challengers had to have specifically a large water-type Pokémon to use them. As much as Hoenn was known for water-types, finding ones large enough to ride was not common.

A familiar howl, followed by a familiar, boisterous voice, pierced the Christmas Day's cool breeze. It was Matt and Nana! "Come on, Saber," Josh urged, reining his Manectric steed toward his friend. "...You don't have to cuss me out at the top of your lungs, buddy. What brings you here?" the Leader asked with raised eyebrows. What could be so urgent?

As he waited, there came the old chum! Smirking at him, he stuck his tongue out. "Hey, I ain't a ranger anymore, I can curse allll I want!" He teased, seeming to be in a very good mood.

"Anyway, I need a favor, mang."

Walking over oh so casually, he held his hand up to Josh. Showing off the engagement band on his left ring finger. "Gettin' hitched! Need you to be a groomsmen, if you want to be." Oh, there came the red puppy dog eyes towards Josh as he asked.

Josh Devlin

The verbal reminder briefly earned Matt a frown. "I hope you reconsider. Razz truly is a thorn in our sides. Did I tell you that Head Ranger Laurence Anderson purposefully assigned us a mission together after you left? It was like he was trying to get us fired or something. I'm still there, though, and even have my blue uniform now! I promise you, I'll be a much better Elite than he can ever hope to be." Of course, with him being an Elite, he would primarily be in supervisory positions on missions now, meaning he would likely not be on the same team as the Silph Ranger.

Matt was getting married! That was a nice surprise, Josh's frown turning upside down. Even Saber let out an excited, crackle-filled bark. "Oh, congratulations! Marriage is a really big deal. I'd be glad to help out at your wedding. Pardon me for asking, but who with? If it's too personal, you don't have to answer."

Matt gave him a bit of a face at the reconsider. Did he really not get why? Or did people lie and say something else...? That made his scrunch his face up. Looking vaguely annoyed, and his eyes rolling at the mention of Razz. "Sounds terrible."

"And I can't come back, because I have promised my fiancé, that I wouldn't so I couldn't get shot again."

Now the question of who, he was given the most dead pan stare of confusion. "Really bro? It's nicodemus unken! I asked him to marry me and he said yes."

Josh Devlin

Matt did have a point. He suffered a very traumatic experience as a direct result of his job, and even after leaving his job, he suffered great physical harm as a result of actions he had taken as a Ranger. "Oh, it was awful. I had to be his lapdog on my first aquatic rescue I was really looking forward to doing myself. But it's behind me, and I still have my job there. Don't get me wrong, he does really good work. He just needs to work on his social skills." Perhaps it was his relationship with Silph Co. that made things more complex than Josh could perceive.

Josh had been so jaded by his family's straight perspective that he failed to look outside the box for a moment. He looked confused for around two seconds before realizing as such. "Oh, that's awesome! I'm sure you two will make a wonderful couple. That reminds me, I haven't seen him since the race! What's he been up to?"

"More like he needs to work on his skills period." Matt muttered, still ever so glad Isaac Merlo beat him in the race. Maybe that knocked him off that high horse he rode so proudly on. But that was in the past and he wasn't about to spoil the good news with that sour Razzberry.

"He's been good, we've been camping out outside Fortree. Been trainin', all that boring stuff." Totally didn't go to a meteor, not at all. "So you're gonna be my groomsmen, riiight?"

Josh Devlin

Josh left the discussion at that. Obviously neither one of them liked the Silph Elite. Being an Elite himself now, the young man would likely never he assigned to the same mission again. "That's in the past now." An extended camping trip? That was wonderful! It reminded him of his own extended camping trip with his friends in the summer. "Depending on how long it is, you might be putting those Ranger skills of yours to good use. Though our paths have diverged in that way, the skills you learned, especially in Hoenn's wilds like that, will serve you forever. And if you ever need a refresher, call me. I'm down to help."

When Matt asked Josh to be a groomsman at the wedding, his smile grew. "I'd be honored to! Just fill me in on the details. Got a location all picked out and everything?" Best friends tying the knot was heartwarming. Though he personally did not seek relationships beyond the platonic, the ones Josh had were equally strong. "If you need more help, I can spread the word." Even Saber was happy, nuzzling Matt if he allowed it.

Matt was thrilled he said yes. "You and Isaac Merlo really comin' though for me." He teased, placing his hands behind his head. "Yeah, that waterfall near Fortree. We grew up playing around it, and it's where I kind of fell in love with him." He scratched the side of his face, he was never much for too much mushy stuff.

"And nah, we want to keep it sorta small, or at least not too huge. Can't fit that many people near a waterfall, after all."

Josh Devlin

The mention of Isaac's name made Josh flinch. After that fateful day where he discovered the hidden dark side of one of his best friends alongside Julia Davis , he would never think of the young, charming man the same. If he had his way, though, he would get his friend out of Rocket. No one deserved to be taken advantage of like that by evil people at the top of the cesspool that was Rocket. He didn't even care if Isaac fully turned on them and joined the League. Just anywhere but Rocket. "That's really not that far from Fortree, is it?" he asked, though accessibility was not a big issue for the Elite Ranger.

It seemed like Matt really just wanted to keep the wedding invitations to a small group of friends, and not friends of friends like most large weddings ended up being. That was quite sensible, given Josh's perception on the personality of who Matt was to be wed with. "Point. Anyone else I might know that got invited?" he asked. "Of course you don't have to answer if you don't want to. Just idle curiosity."

"I'm assumin' you know a few, obviously. Gonna invite Julia Davis, already Isaac is invited, by default. Lets see.." He tried to wrack his brain. "I can't think of anyone else besides them, we have some childhood friends coming as our guests of honor."

That thought made him smile. "Nico's best friend, Aki, is going to be the flower girl and doing a lot of the planning. Her twin brother, Ash, is Nico's best man, and my best man is going to be our friend JT, who is with Ash." Really, all of them went back pretty far. It was quite a trip.

"Gotta find someone to get us married though."

Josh Devlin

It seemed that though the wedding was private, a lot of people he knew were invited. "Childhood friends of yours, mm?" Josh asked rhetorically. "Looking forward to meeting some new faces! You need my Pokémon to take anyone home in case they have too much to drink, they'll be around," he laughed. It was a common job for him at large parties, both directly and through his Gym trainers, to provide designated rider services.

"Aki, too?" Josh smiled. "I know her; she is so much fun to be around! That Furret of hers is something else. I've never seen one so big before!" Little did he know that he would be stumbling across one of his own, a partner for Techu. He would have to show Aki someday! "Sadly I don't have direct connections to Hoennian priests. Might need to do a little searching on the Internet. Good luck with getting it all put together, and I can't wait! You, Nico, and I need to spend another day together like we did at Splashfest. That was fun!"