Meanwhile, Pazuzu and Josh circled around the other side of the coordinate range specified in the briefing. On top of the Krookodile and Krokorok, there were Scrafty threatening the missing Ranger. That's right, the briefing called for Scrafty. The other dark-types were not accounted for in the mission, but they were there in his way all the same. There were too many of them to subdue. Shaking a fist, he had little choice. He dove in front of the red-dressed Ranger and greeted the young man, putting himself in direct line of fire of the wilds encroaching on him.

"Elite Ranger Devlin. Hop on my Pidgeot and get out of here. He'll come back to me." The younger man protested, wanting to help out against such a large crowd of Pokémon. "Just go! I've got it handled!" With the Ranger taking off to safety on the back of the enormous bird, the dark-types closed in on Josh, finding a new victim. "I really don't want to do this, but... we have little choice. Pinky, use HYPER VOICE!"

The Shiny Sylveon pointed her feelers upward, her mouth opening and loosing a terrifying, alien-like, low-pitched squeal that even howard slayte could likely hear. Strong on its own, the PIXILATED shout decimated eardrums of the many dark-types nearby, several even bleeding out their ears. To the many dark-types and fighting-types in the area, it was beyond torturous. The sound waves rumbled through their bodies, the blood of several spilling from their ears and noses. An aural notice from his phone got his attention. When he read it, he grimaced.

MISSION FAILURE: Unacceptable non-military casualties!

OBJECTIVE C: FAILED

He dun goofed.

Shirly fetched good.

Fossil Pokémon possessed a killer instinct, Howard had to admit. When you outlived entire civilizations a thousand times over, you tended to be excellent at whatever you did. Sure, they all went extinct at some point, but whatever. Tamato berry, tomato berry. Shirley proved her worth, barreling through the Mankeys with Iron Head, and stalling them with a Scary Face.

Having an Aerodactyl stare you down was frankly terrifying. Howard almost felt bad for the Mankeys. Then, he saw the man's bruises. Almost.

"Sir, we're here to rescue you. Hop down! I'll catch you!" Howard yelled up at the man.

"Where's my boy?! Is he safe?" The man shouted, eyes wide with fear. Howard nodded. The man jumped into Howard's arms.

Howard ate dirt as he disappeared under the man's weight. He had caught him for a few moments, and then his knees gave out. The father could've just jumped to the ground next to Howard, but it risked getting into Shirley's way.

"I'm sorry!"

"Yeah. I bet." Howard grunted as he got to his feet. He felt his phone buzz with a notification. Josh had done something—

—the sound of a low pitched screech echoed in Howard's ears. That sounded like a HYPER VOICE to Howard. Judging from the stunned Mankeys on the ground, it likely was. It hadn't done significant damage, thanks to the distance, but it still echoed in his ears.

"Alright, get going Shirley!" Howard whistled then pointed towards the man. "Don't struggle. She'll take you to Josh Devlin. He's the real pro, and your son is with him.

"Josh Devlin? He's here? The Gym Leader? The racer?" The man asked as Shirley grabbed the man by the shoulders in her claws.

Howard frowned. "Yeah. You a fan?"

"Of course! He was awesome in the Johto Cup!"

"Of course he was." Howard sighed. "Up, Shirley!" Howard threw a saltine cracker up into the sky. As it raced past Shirley's head, she flew higher to bite at it. Howard did it again, and she flew off into the sky.

"Wait." Howard blinked. Realization dawned as he looked up. "TELL HIM TO SEND ME A RIDE!" Howard screamed after Shirley.

---

NAME	SPECIES
Shirley	Aerodactyl
Ayer	Nosepass
Celpho	Anorith
Crumble	Baltoy

Josh Devlin

With the family united and Josh's three flying Pokémon intact, Josh, Howard, and their four flying Pokémon were easily able to ferry the rescued trio to safety. The swaths of Pokémon that he had downed to do so weighed deeply on his mind, though. "Howard, I'm not sure how the pay situation for you is going to work, given my screwup. We'll find out when we get back to town." The flight to Lavaridge Town was peaceful and uneventful. He couldn't go too fast, after all; the victims weren't used to high speed travel like he was!

Josh let the duo dismount his Dragonair near their residence in town before leading Howard to the Ranger HQ in the small town. There, he was hit with the bad news: due to unacceptable levels of wild Pokémon being hurt, Howard could not be paid for his work. He came out of the building with a big frown on his face. "Howard, I'm so sorry... I'll make this up to you. I'll pay your half of the bounty out of my own pocket. I just don't have the cash nearby. How about we get some lunch somewhere, and I can find a nearby ATM to get the cash to pay you?"

The flight back took a decent amount of time. The trip to Lavaridge was slower and less exhilarating than the ride to the scene, since Josh and Howard weren't in a rush to save anyone. In the meantime, Howard had attempted to check his phone. Realizing that dropping it would mean he'd be phoneless until he shelled out some cash, Howard slipped it back into his pocket.

When Josh told Howard what had happened, the archaeologist hadn't responded. Was he mad?

When the duo landed, Howard popped his back and looked up at the Ranger HQ, then at Josh. When Josh came out, his acquaintance's face was unreadable, before it broke into a wry smile as Howard pounded Josh on the back.

"Nah! Don't worry about it. It's my fault too. I should've had my Baltoy use Block to help you delay the Pokémon that were after the kid. My fault, just as much as yours. Don't lose sleep over it." Howard chuckled, before sobering quickly at Josh's expression. He shook his head. "There'll be a day when you wake up, and you won't even think about what you did. I heard that HYPER VOICE. I can take a guess at what happens."

"We saved lives today. Don't forget that."

Howard pulled out a paper map (scandalous!) of Lavaridge, before waving off Josh's offer. "If it means so much to you, pay for lunch and pay for any rooms we'll need. You can owe me a favor or something." From Howard's time in Team Rocket, favors were worth more than money.

"C'mon! We're in Lavaridge! Lighten up! There's hot springs and delicious food. Plus they have Lava Cookies. Authentic Lava Cookies! Let's go get some!

---

NAME	SPECIES
Shirley	Aerodactyl
Ayer	Nosepass
Celpho	Anorith
Crumble	Baltoy

Josh Devlin