Regardless of whether the duo had formal astronaut training, they had been to space before, which was the primary reason the League had approved the duo for the mission. Josh, likewise, arrived in his League-provided suit, carrying his helmet to make his face visible. He didn't think he would be wearing it again, and certainly not so soon. "Great to see you again, Leader Vaneau! You can call me Josh if you'd like; no need to be so formal around me. Ready to go dragon riding together above the lunar surface?" While it was certainly the most fun part of their mission, they still needed to collect data on how dragons flew in the vacuum of space. With the lunar surface unprotected by an atmosphere, gravity would be the only difference between doing the tests there and actual spaceflying.

Once the two were inside the small spacecraft and airborne, Josh had quite the story to tell. He would have a lot of time to tell it, too; after all, the lunar body was hours away. "The closest I've gotten to space since then was when Eva Morales let me go for a ride on Rayquaza last month. I have no idea how she does it. It didn't take much to just...throw up. For someone who calls himself the Master of Faster, to get motion sick like that... it's a disgrace," he frowned.

The trip became a lot more peaceful after the spacecraft's violent rocking about from having to reach escape velocity. Thankfully, League technology had evolved to the point where navigation between stellar bodies could be done by a computer instead of the two needing to also steer! They could enjoy the sights of interstellar space and catch up on each others' goings-on. While Josh wasn't having quite as much fun as Andrea was in zero gravity, he did laugh at the sensation of having no body weight. "It's such a weird feeling," he remarked. "It's not even exactly swimming. In water, there's at least friction to stop you. Not so here." Well, there was some, but it was so little as to be negligible.

"She is amazing, yeah!" Josh nodded. "She and illeana reyes helped me locate a new ABSOLITE to replace the one that mean Kyurem broke." The Mauville racer's eyebrows rose at her remark about Rayquaza being the best legendary Pokémon. Given she was a dragon fanatic, it made sense for her to worship Rayquaza. After his ride on the dragonlord, they were up there on his favorites list, too. How could he not like the fastest Pokémon in the world? "Andrea, I think you spelled Raikou wrong," he jeered. "Did you forget about the Great Raikou, who clears the scary valley in just one bound?" He was, of course, referencing a children's song about the Hero of Johto who rode the Great Raikou.

Andrea's reaction wasn't unexpected, though Josh did need time to collect his thoughts. "Yep, you heard me. Eva wanted someone backing her up on her first EXTREME SPEED run. From the beginning, it was fast. Really fast. Like... take the speed of your fastest dragon and stick a zero on the right side of it. You can't imagine how fast Rayquaza is. We both wore flight suits that meshed with their scales to keep us from falling off. And even then, it was nothing short of paralyzing. Not to mention what actually happened when he used the move." He paused again to collect his thoughts. "First Articuno, then Rayquaza, then Raikou... I wonder how many more legendary Pokémon I'll be able to hop on?"

The stories Andrea had to share were fascinating, and a great way to pass the time. "Arceus really gave Raikou the short end of the stick, didn't He..." the racer sighed, having to pull himself back into his chair after instinctually tapping his feet against the floor caused him to start floating away. "Suicune can control the wind and make water pure no matter how filthy it is. Entei can manipulate tectonics with his mighty roar. What can Raikou do? Go really friggin fast. That's why I like him, but..." He trailed off, unsure what to follow it up with and ultimately left it at that.

"It wasn't so bad at first when they flew in a straight line above the sea," Josh recounted his trip astride the sky dragon. "When Rayquaza turned into a green comet, Mossdeep City was on the horizon. Seconds later, it was whipping past us. We had to wear special flight suits that meshed with his scales and anchored our lower bodies just to ride them at all." He shared the top speed the dragon reached: a number he would remember as long as he loved ultrafast Pokémon. It was well beyond any Pokémon he had ever been on, and that included the small list of legendary Pokémon he had been astride. "It's a speed humans really aren't meant to go riding at." Josh warmly smiled at Andrea's remark. "And the same to you. Raikou was an unforgettable experience I'd love to share with anyone willing."

Andrea's point was something Josh had never pondered despite all of the madness that had occurred since he came from Johto what was it, over seven months ago now? "I've yet to give that much thought," Josh wondered. He thought about it for much of the rest of the trip, including over a well-preserved lunch.

The capsule landed on the lunar surface without incident, Josh putting his helmet on and snapping his belt of dragon Pokémon into place. "I'll initiate depressurization when you're ready to disembark, Andrea. Let's ride some dragons! Maybe we can figure out why some of them don't need to breathe oxygen."

The hiss of depressurization made Josh flinch. He had flown to the Meteor in Arricuno's metaphorical saddle last time he was conscripted to space. Once the light above the door had changed from red to green, the hatch opened as if on cue. With there being no atmosphere, the sun was even brighter than it was on earth, making it impossible to face in its direction comfortably.

Reaching for a Poké Ball at his waist, Josh sent out his own Hydreigon, Kokusho. If Andrea was paying close attention, she would have easily noticed the dark-type was no longer wearing reins. Equipped with only a saddle, the vicious creature only allowed himself to be controlled with the bridle of trust. It was trust Josh had worked hard to build up.

Once the two lunar explorers landed on the crater-filled surface, Josh rest his hands on his Hydreigon's saddle and hoisted himself upward. The low gravity caused all his movements to be both delayed and greatly exaggerated, the force of his normal leap into the saddle instead sending him flying over the Pokémon's back. All three heads laughing, Kokusho flew beneath him to catch him, the Mauville Leader landing perfectly in the dragon's seat. "That's one thing a lot of people don't realize about low gravity. Sure you can jump really high, but it also slows you down a lot. The low gravity is the only reason I was able to maintain control while riding my Manectric's HYPERSONIC PLASMA CHARGE when we were on Meteno."

Andrea's remark earned a scowl from Josh, then a laugh after he realized the remark was in jest. "Frankly, the low gravity of the meteor may have saved my life when I rode Saber. On Hoenn's surface, he'd be outrunning bullets from high caliber guns, which is really scary to think about." And yet, it was a necessary component for his Sygna Suit.

Josh was impressed Andrea could ride Chomper with no gear at all. While it was trainer preference, Hydreigon were so vicious and so fickle that the extra level of comfort, both for the mount and for the rider, were often needed. "You and Chomper must be really close partners, like my Manectric," he mused as the two flew above the lunar surface, their combined twelve wings operating in slow motion.

She then asked the Elite what the order of operations would be. "Long as we collect lunar samples for the League and see how all our dragons react to the airless environment, we can go wherever we want. I don't think I'd want to explore the lunar subterrane, though." There was only one way to find out, and that was to cycle through all six. Josh sent out Sidewinder, his Dragapult, who seemed to be able to adapt to the conditions of space just fine.

Indeed, the relationship between Andrea and Chomper was similar to that his own with his Manectric. "Saber was my first Pokémon; I got him when I was ten. We've been inseparable since. It brings tears to his eyes every time I don't put him on my belt for an assignment where he won't be helpful, such as this one." Sidewinder wouldn't let himself be outdone by Stella, attempting to match her AGILITY with a DRAGON DANCE of his own. "That's one thing I've been meaning to try but I keep forgetting Dragapult can do. When you're riding Stella, do you phase with her? I've done it with an Espeon using ALLY SWITCH, and he can teleport me along just fine."

The topic of a Moon Stone harvest came up, Josh smiling beneath his helmet. "That's a really good idea! We should keep our eyes out for loose Moon Stones while we're testing our dragons out. It seems like the Dragapult can breathe just fine." With a strong lean, Josh wheeled his Hydreigon around Andrea in s display of speed before resuming a more casual flight next to his shiny counterpart. He withdrew Sidewinder and sent out his next dragon, a Garchomp.

"Andrea, this is Alphamax," he introduced the Pokémon, who seemed to have no difficulty at least maintaining his vitals in the airless environment. When the ground-type started to prepare for takeoff, both of his engines would not spool due to the lack of air surrounding them. "That's strange. Neither one of his bio-engines are working," Josh noticed aloud.