When Josh had signed up for Delibird Deliveries, he didn't expect such a big job straight away, and yet he had one that would require an entire team of Pokémon. His first major delivery was for NAUTICA, a Hoenn-based exploration conglomerate he was unsure how his friend Shalin Nariya hadn't consolidated her expeditionary with. It seemed like she would be the perfect employee for them.

The mysterious pallet was to be delivered to NAUTICA's main hangar in Lilycove City. Due to how heavy it was, Josh's ride Pokémon were perfect for the job, masters of keeping their tethered cargo steady even at high speeds. He rode Blinky, his Jolteon, across town, while his Flareon, Espeon, Umbreon, Glaceon, and Sylveon all worked together to pull the on-wheels parcel across Lilycove City and all the way to the hangar.

After a long trip across town, Josh had arrived at the destination, buzzing the doorbell outside the main entrance's gate. "Special delivery for Mr. Angelo Vestri?" he would ask as soon as the presence of Angelo or a NAUTICA employee prompted him to do so.

Angelo's shout caught Josh's attention immediately, Josh reining his oversized Jolteon toward the young businessman. The remainder of his Eeveelutions followed, the racer dismounting his electric-type long enough to undo the harnesses connecting the remainder of the parade of large big Eeveelutions to the large delivery. "That's me," Josh confirmed. "Oh, I remember you from the job fair! Going there was one of the best decisions I ever made. I was able to fill almost all the positions I wanted. It's given me enough workers that I can actually spend time away from my Gym to do things I enjoy." Of course, Josh had the advantage of getting copious funding, both from the League directly and from Mauville. He could afford to hire staff that Angelo may not have been able to.

"Seasonally, but yes," Josh confirmed he indeed was working for Locke's delivery company. "Ranger work gets really slow in the winter, and ever since my promotion, they've had me working fewer field jobs directly. I get wanting to save them for fresh blood, but it's agitating not being able to find tickets. So I'm working seasonally for them until the end of next month."

Once they were unhooked, Josh's other Pokémon roamed the hangar, Janus and Pinky approaching Angelo to greet him with soft cries, though the Sylveon's low squeak may have been a bit unsettling to one who had never encountered an Alpha Sylveon, whether it retained its Alpha status or not. "How did things go with Shalin Nariya ? You think she's the kind of person NAUTICA would want?"

No steroids were involved; ever since the Distortions came through Hoenn, Pokémon that were at the very peak of what their genetic code allowed were far more common than they used to be. Pokémon this big used to be extraordinarily rare. He had once talked about it with illeana reyes when they went to lunch after finding the location Josh would go to for retrieving a chunk of the ABSOLITE cache within Route 121's Watery Grave. Between that discussion and his own research, he estimated that a Sylveon that size, pre-Distortion days, were ten to twenty times rarer than a Shiny Pokémon. They still weren't exactly common, but it was several orders of magnitude more likely to run into them now. That alone revolutionized the racing world, making incredibly fast Pokémon much more accessible to those outside the ultrawealthy.

Josh laughed at Angelo's sarcastic remark, replying, "It's not like they overlap much!" before taking a bit to calm down and collect his thoughts. "Honestly at this point, the Ranger stuff is more a labor of love than anything. With all my new hires able to run my Gym almost without me, I can do what I enjoyed doing again. It's just that Ranger work gets so slow in the winter that there's just not enough tickets to go around. So during the winter, I've been picking up tickets for Delibird to get my Pokémon some exercise. That and riding is just plain fun!"

"Got some paperwork for you right here," Josh answered. The topic of the rifts came up as he pulled out a clipboard with a receipt to be signed. Josh was familiar with the rifts too; he would be taking many Ranger tickets over them now that he was an Elite. "illeana reyes dragged me into this too. Sounds like she has both of us going on a wild Swanna chase through these rifts. Technically it's a Gym Leader's duty, but she's doing it of her own will." As Angelo scratched the Sylveon's chin, the ride-trained Eeveelution smiled and let out another low squeal, then briefly wrapped her feelers around his hands if he would allow it.

"Exactly," Josh smiled as both parties stowed their documentation of the delivery. Pinky let out another squeal as she released her hold on Angelo before returning to Josh. "Such a good girl," the Leader remarked as he pat the Sylveon on the back of the head. "All eight of them, really. I have a whole set of them about this size at my Gym, from Vaporeon to Sylveon. Ever since the Distortions started showing up, really big Pokémon like this have become a lot more common in Hoenn. I bet breeders are upset that the Distortions crashed the market for Pokémon that are giant for their species like this."

"Sounds like we have like goals, then," Josh replied with a nod. "I'm starting with the desert rift by Mauville, which is the one I'm most responsible for due to its proximity to my Gym. After that, the cave rift by Dewford. If we happen to be headed to the same rifts, I'm more than willing to help out."

Angelo's words were absolutely true. "Yep. Over twelve years of searching finally paid off late last year. And was it ever worth it." He, of course, was referring to Raikou. If Angelo was in on Gym Leader gossip, he would have easily been able to put two and two together.

"Thanks," Josh sighed. "It's a... thirteen year old childhood dream come true." He paused to let the time frame sink in. "Angelo, you might not believe me at first, and I'm going to sound like a child, but that dream was... meeting and riding Raikou." Though kyle lopez 's familiar may not have been the real thing, it was real enough in his eyes, and certainly ran as fast as the real one. Josh took note of the Golisopod that began hauling the heavy delivery to the hangar, waving at the bug-type in greeting.

"Other than the rifts?" Josh asked. "Next for me is Hoenn's Champion Assessment. With the only Raikou I knew having died in the Kanto war, and the one I got to ride being no more than a familiar, I think proving myself as one of Hoenn's elite combatants, beyond even the prowess of a Gym Leader, will garner more favor within the upper echelons of the League." That, and to avenge his family that had been put through untold trauma at Team Rocket's hands when they tried to take over Goldenrod.

"It did and then some," Josh answered. "It was exhilarating, blissful... and even humbling. When the Beast was at their fastest, my body just couldn't handle it. I'll never forget the experience, though. And it's something I want another chance at. To conquer it." Of course, that wasn't happening; the Raikou he knew died in the Kanto war. "Until you've ridden a legendary Pokémon before, you have no idea just how fast they are." Ironic words to Angelo, those were. If only he knew...

The topic shifted to the new Champion Assessment that had spread from Paldea. "It's hard to say," Josh replied. "Hoenn's supposedly got the hardest Champion Assessment in the entire world. I'm as confident as I can be, as I'm on a first-name basis with three of them. Would even say I'm good friends with MATIAS SILPH . Katherine Fairburne , though, is an enigma to me." It was hard to say which he would struggle the most with. All four would be rough battles. Not to mention he had to get through Entei if he wanted the title of Champion for himself.

Even if he only got one chance at it, he was happy with how that one chance went. Before he gave the command for Raikou to use Extreme Speed, he was having the time of his life. THere was nothing like going faster on the ground than even swift bird Pokémon like Skarmory flew.

"Callan helped me a lot, but so did Elinor Anderson ," Josh clarified. "The two of us have a long history together, and once my Pyroar, Aslan, is out of rehab and feeling confident enough to battle, we're going to have a battle that will get me ready for the Elite Four." That battle was one of the big promises that gave the shiny, albino lion the motivation to push through rehab, no matter how painful it might be.

"Will do!" Josh nodded in agreement. "We see each other fairly regularly. I'm a bit nervous about meeting him in battle. We've done a lot of work together for the League, and his Pokémon are all just terrifyingly strong. But it's why he's Elite Four." Even if Josh was offered a position on the Elite Four, he would turn it down; he loved his Gym far too much to give it up.