"Genny!" Josh waved toward the lower-ranked Ranger whose role would be just as vital as his own. "No need for formalities with me. Glad to see you're on the up-and-up since we last met! It's been far too long." The Dewgong's expression looked just as serious as Genevieve's, eager to breach the hulls of some Rocket vessels. It took repeated tugs on Snacker's reins just to get the Sharpedo to hold still. "That makes four of us that are excited to see some action, it seems," the Gym Leader chuckled.

"Hop right on!" the Dewgong's trainer approved. While his aquatic saddle was purposed for sub-surface operations, it would be perfectly serviceable on the surface, as well. "Ulysses here is efficient, fast, and as obedient as can be. His reins are some of the most true you'll ever hold. You'll find him really easy to control, and he's got a wicked AQUA JET, too. Still can't keep up with Snacker, but he's mighty fast. Now, let's go out there and kick some butt." With that, a laser-like beam of water shot from the dark-type's rear, Josh smiling wide as his mount bounced around on the choppy waters. They'd get the chance to have their fun before the vessels came into sight.

"No biggie," Josh reassured Genny as the two cast off. Ulysses got off to a slow start, the guest rider likely able to feel every swish of his powerful tail, keeping it as far below water as possible to avoid splashing Genny during turns. It was a little bouncy, but smooth enough, almost like riding an aquatic equine. As she got used to it, the Dewgong would put on a little more speed.

Snacker, on the other hand, was full of energy, swimming high-speed circles around his traveling companions. As much fun as Josh was having bouncing atop the waves, he had to rein the Sharpedo in. "Snacker, save that energy for the mission." Reluctantly, the shark cut the water pressure coming out of his rear, matching whatever pace Genny was comfortable with. "Sharpedo are super powerful aquatic Pokémon. They're more than capable of sinking ships by chewing through their hulls. It's wild."

As the two rounded Dewford Island's corner and their target vessels came into sight, the Gym Leader reined his Sharpedo in again, slowing to coast on just his momentum. "There's a couple ways we can go about this. We can try to sink their ship, or we can try to board them with our Pokémon. Their AQUA JETs are strong enough to jump all the way to the decks of most ships."

For Genny to call Sharpedo cool rather than frightening was a sign of bravery. They were among the most feared Pokémon in the sea, notoriously challenging to raise, but also one of the most rewarding. Little could outspeed them on the water's surface, having amazing sustained speeds. AQUA JET raised that speed to something truly hair-raising.

Making the turn, the vessel the Rangers sighted previously was not the only one. There were two more closer to the north Dewford Island cliff-face, the sound of a drill starting. The Rockets behind the operation aimed to bore their way into the back of the cave, where Ultra Sea's rift portal was located. Even if the rift weren't there, Josh as a Ranger could not let this kind of environmental destruction stand.

"Think you and Ulysses could serve as a distraction?" Josh asked as Snacker's jaws snapped, the water-type excited to tear some vessels apart. "Either way, I'm not comfortable with us handling this on our own. I'm gonna radio for backup." The Gym Leader switched frequencies to communicate with Dewford Law Enforcement. "Dewford HQ, this is Rlite Ranger Devlin of the Hullbreacher squad. Rocket's operation is far more extensive than previously known. They have at least three ships we can see. Requesting backup from Dewford Marine Corps, over." He grimaced as he saw the body of a badly-injured Barraskewda go flying through the air at high speed, landing in their general direction belly-up. It was abundantly clear that the poor Pokémon was already dead before landing in front of them.

"Understood. Over and out." Josh frowned. "It'll be about ten minutes before they can get into position, but we have to make a move now," he turned to Genny. "If you can serve as a distraction, I can move on the ship that has their drilling equipment and try to sink it."

Genny drew the Rockets' attention as Josh and his Sharpedo sank just below the surface, only the Gym Leader's upper chest and head sticking out of the water. Waves splashed his visor from time to time, but that was okay; he trusted his Sharpedo to handle navigation if need be. It was largely how the Gym Leader handled his side of the operation, only using the shark's reins to manually control his direction when necessary.

Meanwhile, Rocket wasn't messing around, either. Not a single one backed down at Genny's threats of arrest. Many Poké Balls went flying into the sea, but their Pokémon were far from standard issue. Powerful water-types such as Tentacruel, Jellicent, Barraskewda, and even a Veluza surrounded the Ranger and his borrowed Dewgong. He preemptively lifted a SAFEGUARD around the two before preparing to gore, HEADBUTT, and AQUA JET his way through them at his rider's command.

On the other side, Josh largely went unnoticed. Only his upper body being out of the water made him difficult to see... until it was too late. "Now, Snacker, AQUA JET," the rider gave the command to action. Their greatly increased wave gave away the racer's position, but not before it was too late for the ship's crew to react. By the time Josh found himself handling a similar posse of aquatic Pokémon, his Sharpedo had already latched onto the vessel's broadside, bucking and flailing with a wide-open maw. Several of the ferocious swimmer's teeth snapped off as he got a piece of hull loose, new ones rising to take their place within seconds. Water began to rush into the ship's engine room, causing the vessel to tilt as it took on liquid.

The two Rangers had landed heavy blows, but were far from out of trouble. On the vessel where Hazel was causing a ruckus, Rocket was setting up a trap to try to snare the grass-type. Their intent was not only to remove the threat, but to use the Chespin as leverage against Genny. On Josh's end, the number of hostile Pokémon grew to the point where he was surrounded.

The red orbs of the Tentacruel glowed, several of their tentacles raised from the surface and pointed at Josh like automatic firearms ready to unload dozens of poison needles into the Elite Ranger and his Sharpedo. Jellicent had taken the initiative to set TRICK ROOM around them. Did one of them have a tip that the Gym Leader was to interrupt their operation? His super fast Pokémon now moved at a Slowpoke's pace; though Snacker's mind was quick to respond, his body was sluggish in the twisted space. Josh gently pat the side of the dark-type's steering fin twice, then flicked his mount's reins.

The shark's sluggish reaction time let the Tentacruel nail both of them with twin barrages of POISON STING before the silently-commanded AQUA JET propelled them well out of the warped space's confines. With both of them struggling, Josh swapped ride Pokémon in mid-air, withdrawing the Sharpedo and expertly landing in the saddle of his Dragonair. The Tentacruel's venom began to take its toll on him, finding it more prudent to hang up Resheph's reins and let the Dragonair fly on her own.

Josh zipped himself into the cocoon during the relative downtime. With his side of the operation handled, he checked in on Genny. "Genny, it's Josh. My side's all handled. What's your status? Over."

Though Josh was a more casual speaker in person, over radio he was formal. "Ranger Cromwell, copy that. The vessel with the drill has been disabled and is sinking. I highly doubt they'll be able to get it patched in time." Unbeknownst to the freedom fighters, they had with a Pokémon's ICE BEAM. The vessel was far from seaworthy, though; a Pokémon would have to continuously use the chilling attack to keep the layer of ice airtight in the warm Hoennian waters. With a little patchwork, the ship would be ready to resume operations. For now, though, the duo had turned the tide.

The sound of sirens filled the air as police boats and Pokémon sped toward the two remaining vessels, setting up a perimeter around them. His speech became more slurred as the radio conversation went on. "I've been hit. Tentacruel venom is no joke. Our backup is... here. I'll see if they're carrying a Pokémon with... Heal Bell... over and out." The last several words may have been particularly hard to understand, the venom inducing a flu-like illness in the Gym Leader.