As much as Josh wanted to take some of his new Pokémon to Lilycove City, it was too cold this time of year for the new grass-types, such as Medli, his Meganium, and Basil, his Leafeon, to be out and about in Lilycove City. His dragons were also too violent for the streets of the large city, so they were out. That didn't leave a lot of Pokémon to help with tracking thieves down. He managed to scrounge together a squad led by Luna, his Liepard, that would be good at hunting down the perpetrator Melody Miro had spoken of.

The moody dark-type was trotting toward Melody, sounding a greeting mew as she stopped next to the talented member of Hoenn's Elite Four. "Hi there, Melody!" the Mauville Leader waved. "You said you need an extra pair of eyes to catch a present thief, right? Mind filling me in with the details?" Mastema the Togekiss hovered behind at low altitude, her cocoon saddle plainly visible if Melody looked at him. Typical Josh. Did he really have to catch only Pokémon that could serve as mounts? Granted, they would be very helpful for chasedowns that could very well result from trying to track a thief down. Bipedal Pokémon, or even just small Pokémon as a whole, had their own utility too! Perhaps he would reconsider their use if the right scenario came up...

Josh's heart sank when he heard how important stealth would be for their objective. To the Mauville Gym Leader and Pokémon racer, stealth was a four letter word. For a trainer that used many, many feline Pokémon, he lacked that quality many of them had, as did the Pokémon themselves. With the rigorous speed training he had put them through, they were fast enough to catch almost any prey without the need to ambush them.

He did pick some of the stealthiest Pokémon he had for the job, though; Mastema's floaty flight was nearly silent, and Luna's lithe footsteps let her move in near silence, even with a rider. The lack of Yagyu's sheaths clinking against one another, now that she had passed on, helped in that matter, as well. "As far as I know. I doubt anyone heard me, either." He withdrew Mastema, hopped off Luna, and headed into the secret base Melody had set up.

A gap in the memories of witnesses? Josh was a bit spooked already. What Pokémon could possibly have done that? He nodded as he took in the idol's briefing. It looked like catching the present thief was going to be quite a challenge. "Sounds like the responsibility of a rogue psychic or ghost Pokémon. I can't think of a Pokémon with that kind of power off the top of my head, though." If it was dark outside when the hour was approaching, Josh would switch his Liepard out for his Umbreon, Kamuy, the saddled dark-type suppressing the glow of his rings. "If I'm right, whatever's doing this won't be able to escape Kamuy." The Umbreon would stroll toward Melody to size her up and get an idea of how friendly she was.

While the Exploud's UPROAR left Josh's ears ringing, it was better than the Leader and his Pokémon falling asleep on the job. It was the same sort of sonic burst many of Shalin's Pokémon were around, and one of many reasons the two didn't go adventuring together. Though they were both Pokémon riders, their styles couldn't be any more different. Josh preferred precise control, and his friend preferred to be barely in control. The one time he sat in her Yanmega's saddle, he couldn't feel anything afterward for hours after a BUG BUZZ's vibration almost completely dulled his sense of touch and hearing. While he still had his sense of touch about him, his hearing was gone.

It was a good thing Josh's stealthiest Pokémon were mostly Dark-types, making him unexpectedly and fortunately ready to take on the Psychic-type Beheeyem! He sent his Liepard, Luna, back out. The two dark-types left the destroyed store, Josh climbing aboard Luna and spurring her to high speeds, attempting to give chase. While Kamuy wasn't quite as fast as the feline, he would go after a different Beheeyem. It felt a little strange being able to feel his mount's strides but not hear footsteps. The crafty feline attempted to FAKE OUT the lead Beheeyem in an attempt to get it to drop its cargo.

Josh was used to having to wear earbuds from being around Shalin and her bug-types. Even that could not have prepared him for the diva's BOOMBURST, courtesy of her Noivern. He had been exposed to just how loud of a sonic boom the Flygon could create by vibrating his wings so fast that their wingtips went supersonic. This, though, was on a whole different level of volume. Even with the earbuds protecting him, Josh squinted as he felt his entire body rattling like he was astride one of his friend's flying bugs. The shockwave might have cracked or broken a few windows, too.

While he managed to cover his Liepard's ears to protect him from the worst of the sonic assault, Josh was unable to get his Umbreon withdrawn in time, the Noivern's explosive sonic discharge ravaging the Eeveelution's sensitive ears. Was that blood oozing from them? Either way, once the attack had run its course, he withdrew the Umbreon and hopped off Luna, pointing toward the fleeing psychic types to either knock them out or at least distract them long enough to recover the stolen gifts. "Blitz, Janus, let's roll!"

A shiny Luxray and an Espeon emerged from Josh's Poké Balls with a popping noise he couldn't even hear from how much his ears still rang despite the ear protection. He hopped aboard the yellow-and-black electric feline and began shuttling the displaced gifts back under the tree, Janus standing under the tree and ALLY SWITCHing with another to warp it back into place. It was quick and efficient!

Neither of the two could have done it without one another; Christmas had been saved in Lilycove City, thanks to the duo's exploits. "Wow, your Noivern is fast," Josh remarked, impressed by how quickly it was able to chase down a teleporting psychic-type. "Hopefully Reverb can get through customs soon. He's my Noivern from a distant region I visited years ago. They've just been swamped since November 18...a day no one will ever forget..."

Josh handed Melody back her extra set of earbuds. "My pleasure," he replied. "That's what we're here for. We're here for each other. And together, we made sure Lilycove will have Christmas again." Just after he waved goodbye, ready to bound off into the night, he remembered one more thing. "Oh, and Melody? I look forward to our match as part of the Champion Assessment."