"Full restoration, please," Josh requested of the Nurse Joy operating the Pokémon Center, handing every Pokémon on his person to her other than Simba. The Pyroar was standing next to him in line. While it was technically permitted for trainers to have a single Pokémon present within the lobby, Simba's size did get the stink eye from the nurse and front desk receptionist. Couldn't he have picked a smaller Pokémon to have out and about? Oh, wait. All of his Pokémon were big.

"We'll get them in as soon as we can, but we're a little understaffed. It'll probably be an hour and a half before we can restore your Pokémon. We'll text you when they're ready."

With that, Josh would walk alongside Simba toward the waiting area, the Pyroar's reins in his right hand. Dressed in a blue Ranger uniform, he would sit on the opposite end of the corner couch, Simba sitting down in front of him and nuzzling the Gym Leader with his warm, red mane. "You did great out there today. The Icelands are no joke," Josh warmly said to the lion Pokémon, who let out a purr that was intended to be soft, but came out a bit louder than the trainer wanted it to be, and perhaps could have gotten the attention of vanessa rosiello . As Simba's eyes shifted toward the Gengar and its trainer, Josh spent some time playing on a portable gaming console, logging into a battle simulator to brush up before his upcoming rematch with CIAN MAHER . The console's sound had been turned up all the way by mistake, causing him to flinch and immediately adjust it to a more reasonable, but not silent, volume.

The charging, heterochromatic young lady spooked Josh, causing him to drop his console on the floor! Thankfully, the things were designed to be tough as nails, able to withstand being dropped like that! "Don't scare me like that!" He reached over to pick up his gaming device; apparently the impact had jostled the cartridge within, causing his game to crash. "Not like I was far in, anyway. Was just doing battle practice." He turned silent as the racing superfan spoke faster than he could say EXTREME SPEED.

When he finally got a moment to interject, he gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder if she allowed it. "Yes, I am indeed Josh Devlin, but with the crises in Hoenn, I've had to...retire from the pro racing scene." It hurt meeting one of his megafans, only to break the bad news. "I'll still do the big events, but I just can't grind for the Silph Cup anymore. I've got a lot on my plate right now. As you can see, I'm a Pokémon Ranger now. Who might you be?"

Simba at first snarled upon being called a different name, then snapped his jaw in front of her hand, though doing so obviously far enough away to express that it was a warning sign. "Simba!" Josh firmly pat the lion's shoulder, and the tacked fire-type immediately backed down. "Sorry about that. He gets agitated when people call him Aslan, just because they looked a lot like one another. You see, since Meteno, a lot of weird nonsense has happened. After being struck by a Deoxys' METEOR BEAM, Aslan had to have major surgery on his two left legs. While he was in recovery, he...turned albino." The Gym Leader showed her a stock picture of a shiny Pyroar to compare their sheen. "I don't get why, but it happened while he was at the hospital. Now he's gotta go through about two months of rehab before I can ride him again. Let alone race him."

Josh let out a chuckle as the playful Gengar seemed to be half-ethereal, half-material, playing inside the end table. "It's not all bad news, though. Have you heard of Mauville Racing Grounds?"

Josh shook his head in understanding. "No harm, no foul," he replied. "The company that makes these designs them to be really tough. That your Pokémon?" The Gengar, based on its merely mischievous behavior and presence in such a well-lit location, had to at least be owned by someone.

The young lady seemed disappointed in Josh's retirement from grinding the circuit full-time. "It's kind of a long story how it all happened. You see, when the barrier went up last summer, anyone who attended the race in Hoenn had to drop out of the 2022 season, since they couldn't leave Hoenn. It put me out of a job. So I did some applying, and caught both the Rangers' and the League's attention." He went on to tell the tale of a simple shrine defense task in the name of the late Johto Beast, Raikou, put him on the path of a Ranger. He had also, simultaneously, applied for the Top Champion's Minor League Gym circuit. "Both got approved the same day, and obviously I couldn't work three jobs."

Seeing that it was just a misunderstanding, Simba approached Sonikku, her affection going a long way in his decision to try to warm up to him. She would be able to get a good look at the saddle and reins adorning him. If they weren't in the middle of a busy Pokémon Center, their mere presence may have beckoned Sonikku to mount up. It was as though Simba was built to ferry a human across the land at blistering speeds. "It is. You see, I very nearly lost my family in Johto to Rocket years ago. And I've lost something else very precious to them, also thanks to Rocket." He shook his head again, raising a finger to correct her. "It's Aslan that fought against Deoxys, not Simba. I actually caught Simba after coming back from space." Thanks again, Commissioner.

It seemed Sonikku was enthusiastic about the racing scene! "You have more titles than me... and I thought the Master of Faster was too cheesy. You'll get your chance to race against me. Mauville Racing Grounds is the new Mauville City Gym. And I'm the Leader there."

"That's a great name," Josh said with a nod as the girl introduced her Gengar. Were those marks from having worn a saddle? And he thought some of his friends were crazy for the Pokémon they chose to ferry them around Hoenn. Not that he didn't have his fair share of them. "Wait... Gengar as a mount?" a smile grew on his face as he appreciated just how unusual and extensive the gear appeared to be. It was almost though the saddle, by some paranormal way, seemed to float above the creature's bipedal frame. Then again, ghosts could float. "That's quite ingenious. I've never seen anyone try to ride a Gengar before. Fastest, you say...? Sonikku, I might have to put that to the test with one of my own Pokémon."

It seemed that Sonikuu recognized a high-ranking Ranger when she saw one. "It's a lot of work, but I couldn't give up either one. Being a Gym Leader is the only way I can race anymore. It's one of the ways to earn my Badge. Unfortunately my Gym is always booked out for weeks." He provided a link to the Mauville Racing Grounds' website where she could sign up. "Thanks to the Paldean Cyclizar Racing League all wanting to challenge my Gym at the same time, I'm booked out for a couple months. Did you know they'll be merging with Hoenn's Pokémon Racing Federation? There was a big article about it in last month's PSPN Digest."

Minutes into their meeting, the trash talk was already beginning. "I won't make it easy for you! By tradition, whatever Pokémon species the challenger registers for the race, I'll also be in the saddle of one if I have one at the Gym." The topic quickly shifted to the Rangers. "Not at all! We help out in urban areas on occasion, though we mostly handle wilderness operations. As an Elite Ranger, I manage search-and-rescue operations. When you've got around fifty Pokémon, all that wear saddles well, they tend to be useful for finding people lost in Hoenn's wilds. I've rescued people from plane crashes, boat crashes, gondola crashes, cave-ins, deep woods, the whole nine yards. You name it, I've probably done it."

Josh's eyes twitched when Sonikku confirmed Dusk was a ride Pokémon. "Now you've really got me curious. And here I went, thinking Dragapult and Drifblim were the only options for flying on a ghost-type. And Drifblim's not great because the only way they have to steer is the wind." It seemed she, like many others, were quite disappointed with Mauville Gym's queues being ridiculously long. The uniqueness of his racing challenge had attracted even off-region challengers to the Gym, to the point of being disruptive to regional challengers trying to qualify for the Champion Assessment. It was a growing pain his secretaries were all too familiar with, having to take that exact complaint call several times per week. "If you just want a race, I'd be down to race you and Dusk after hours at my Gym, but if you want an actual Quick Badge, I'm booked out really far right now."

Sonikku's last remark caused Josh to raise his eyebrows. "You know, Sonikku, we've got about an hour to kill before our Pokémon will be ready anyway. Want to step out of this place and go riding together? Obviously we'll have to respect municipal speed limits until we're out of town, but it would be a great way to kill time until we get our Pokémon back. I'm very curious to see how you and Dusk work together." Simba's head perked up as well; while he wasn't as enthusiastic as Aslan was about it, the big lion loved a good run, too.

Dusk's harness was, to say the least, ingenious. He never would have thought riding on a Gengar would be possible until he saw what Sonikku's Pokémon was rigged with. When she revealed her intent to ride a Rapid-Spinning Starmie, Josh blinked. Several times. With how fast their backs whirl, that had to be mothing short of dizzying. "You and my friend Shalin Nariya would get along perfectly. She's also a Pokémon rider, but she's got almost all Pokémon no one else would dare to get on. She's got this Kommo-o and this Beedrill that look downright dangerous to ride on. I've even seen her try to ride her Milotic by the tail."

Admittedly, Dusk phasing in and out around Sonikku was a really easy way for her to mount up, he silently observed. The Pyroar let out a purr that tickled Josh's thighs as he firmly held the reins. It seemed like she was ready before he was, which was unsurprising, given her extremely high energy level. When the two were prepared, Josh jabbed his knees into Simba's sides and flicked the fire-type's reins. "Hyah!" With a running start, the lion king made a low, swift leap away from Oldale Town.

Josh guffawed at Sonikku's reaction to Shalin. "You're the first person to ever call me wild. I'm nothing compared to her. She can be a bit hard to get ahold of, given she's often in places where there's no cell reception. But I'll do my best." Seeing the teen astride the Gengar was intriguing to say the least, Josh laughing as the two taunted him by sticking their tongues out in unison. "You'll be the one eating Simba's dust!" he taunted back.

Sonikku definitely had an advantage, Dusk's ability to phase through fences Simba had to jump over making the fire-type work harder to keep up. "Wow, Dusk is a fast one! But we're not giving up easily!" he retorted as the wind of the grasslands whipped by them both. "Aslan, DOUBLE TEAM!" the racer commanded. Trails of the red, royal lion appeared behind him as he attempted to pass the floating, charging phantom.