As Josh flew toward Shoal Cave astride Ares, his Charizard, he basked in the sun's rays piercing the cloudless sky. If there was a time to go to the tundra-filled cave, it was in the middle of the summer, before ice encroached upon its entrance as well as northern Mossdeep City. He didn't dare take one of his water Pokémon there; even in the summer, the water would get uncomfortably cold for all but the hardiest ice Pokémon. He had a Dewgong that could make the trip, but getting wet in those conditions was asking for a bout with hypothermia.

Landing on the sandy, cool beach and seeing ever blackwell 's Corviknight painted a grim reminder of why Josh was here: he needed to get an Ice-type ride Pokémon to extract stem cells from in order to synthesize Aleph. Yes, he already had a name in mind for the Type: Null. Coming in for a landing, he waved to Ever as the Charizard swooped past, making a lap around the island to reduce his speed enough to touch down. "Morning, Ever!" Josh greeted, dressed in his blue Elite Ranger uniform. "Thanks for the help with this one. Getting an ice Pokémon here would get me out of a real bind." He grabbed Craggro's Poké Ball and hurled it toward his feet, the Hisuian Arcanine giving Josh a big lick. "No kisses!" After vaulting himself aboard, Josh noticed something immediately different about the rock-type after his saddle felt a lot harder than normal and being a lot deeper in his fur.

His legs and belly were bulging. A lot.

"What happened to you?" the Gym Leader asked, a look of bewilderment on his face. "You've put on... a lot of pounds, yet I haven't changed anything about how I care for you." Then it dawned on him. "Arceus... it's that damn medicine that did this to you, isn't it?" A nod was the answer Josh needed. "We'll need to talk to illeana reyes about this. Might send her an email when we get back," he said with a frown as he slid down. "Lemme loosen your saddle a bit. I'm sure it's not very comfortable." He did so at first by one notch, then by a second, before climbing back aboard. While it wasn't quite as stable as it was before the incident, it was as good as it was going to get, what with the Arcanine's jiggling belly complicating matters. "Let's head in."

Josh frowned when Ever inquired about the health of his Hisuian Arcanine. "It's... a long and wild story. Even if I told you, you might not believe me." At least he could share the reporting with Ever, given that he was also a Ranger. He winced, able to feel the heaviness of the Arcanine's footsteps. As he found out from a Pokémon Center visit, Craggro was at nearly double what would be considered a healthy weight for the Arcanine. "It's also a bit... gruesome. I want to be a whistleblower for what the League's making me do, but I also don't want to lose my job. I love Mauville Gym too much, and I'm sure I'll get canned if I try to play hero like this."

When Josh was asked for navigational tips, he flashed a small smile. "Not firsthand, but thanks to Shalin Nariya's efforts and her becoming a Ranger, she's shared her map of the Crystal Trench on RangerNet. Let's head in." With that, the Arcanine jogged toward the entrance, his heavier breathing evidenced by puffs of vapor leaving his nose and mouth in the wintry air inside the cave. Directly ahead was a frozen waterfall. If Ever were to look through it, he would see a surreal, almost fantastic sight: an ice castle several levels underground, against the blackness of the more well-known parts of Shoal Cave. It was likely their journey would take them inside.

Josh let out a deep sigh. It was a story he didn't like sharing with others, but Ever was someone he could trust. "How familiar are you with the Type: Full recipe and the Ultra Beast war? Anyway, from what I understand, some years ago, there was an attempt to clone Arceus using DNA of a Pokémon of every time. Instead of getting Arceus, they got a Pokémon we now know as Type: Null." While it was still warm enough for their phone screens to not crack, Josh pulled up a photo of Shalin's Type: Null, Lathiel, and showed it to Ever. "This Pokémon."

After dismounting Craggro and peering through the frozen waterfall, he continued his story. "So the recipe calls for the stem cells of a Pokémon of every type. The cultivar needed to extract the stem cells is toxic to Pokémon, and cause all kinds of awful side effects for them, up to and including... death." He shed a tear. "Bora and Valoo... I will make sure your sacrifice wasn't in vain." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, the League thinks I would greatly benefit from having a Type: Null on my team, given it's a Pokémon that is almost on par with a legendary Pokémon and that it's large enough to ride on. So much so that they've ordered me to do so. And as a Gym Leader, I just can't say no. And ultimately, that's the reason why I asked you to come here to help me. I need an ice Pokémon's--"

As he was about to continue, Josh felt something cold crawling up his back. Turning around, he heard one of the flaps on his backpack open, its contents spilling on the ground. "My berries!" he cried, scrambling to pick them up before the Swinub could eat them. Strangely enough, the ice-type seemed very friendly, and after a specific type of food only. Rather than engaging the creature in combat, Josh lowered his face to the wild. "You really like my Rawst Berries, don't you?" he asked, getting up close to the bashful wild. "I'll leave some of them out for you, then!" He scooped up most of the fallen Berries, leaving a few Rawst Berries for the ice-type to eat before tapping the wild with a Poké Ball. "It seems cruel, Ever, and I hate to do it... but this is why I'm out here. Ice-type Pokémon stem cells are the last piece of the puzzle I need for my Type Null. Aleph. Yes, I've already named him."

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD DRILBUR APPEARED!

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] FEMALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] SAND RUSH
[attr="class","wildtabox"]FISSURE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]RAPID SPIN
[attr="class","wildtabox"]MUD SPORT	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]FURY SWIPES
[attr="class","wildtabox"] ---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]ever blackwell Josh Devlin

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD TRAPINCH APPEARED!

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] FEMALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] HYPER CUTTER
[attr="class","wildtabox"]ASTONISH	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]LASER FOCUS
[attr="class","wildtabox"]BIDE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]FEINT ATTACK
[attr="class","wildtabox"] ---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]ever blackwell Josh Devlin

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Josh Devlin CAUGHT THE SWINUB!

Ever wasn't wrong. It was hard on the Pokémon, even for the ones that didn't perish. It was even harder on Josh. He cared about absolutely every one of his Pokémon. Sure, he had his favorites like any other trainer would, but he, or his Gym staff, gave absolutely every single one of them the love they needed. He had so many at his Gym that it was starting to get crowded with them at peak hours. It had come to the point where he considered applying for a land grant to expand Mauville Racing Grounds; outright purchasing the land would break the budget.

"The war," Josh started to explain with a heavy heart. "Yes, all Pokémon are powerful in the right hands. Some are more powerful than others, though. Ultra Beasts. So-called 'mythical' Pokémon like Raikiri, my Zeraora. I don't have him here, but did I ever introduce you to him?" He nodded, then shook his head.

While Josh didn't verbally acknowledge Ever's comment on the cruelty of modern Hoenn, his body language suggested so. "Anyway, there are agents of the gods themselves within the ranks of both the League and Team Rocket. To compete with them, you'll need every bit of power you can get. Type: Null is one of the few Pokémon that can battle the gods on a level playing field. As much as I would like to wait for Raikou to come to me, I can't. I need to be more proactive. And the League has forced my hand in that matter." Yes, he had his selfish reasons for wanting the bond with Raikou. He also had his selfless ones. Though it was only kyle lopez 's familiar, Josh had proven himself in Galar. He had proven he was more than capable of hahdling every bit of speed Raikou had to offer.

Ever's body language did not go unnoticed, and neither did his resentment. The war's escalation was ultimately what led to the deaths of Josh's two Pokémon, Ellie and Valoo. His cyberspace adventures had taught him that no Pokémon was so important it was worth sacrificing others to preserve. Josh was willing to throw the entire rest of his squad out the door to preserve Saber that day. He would have protested to the creation of Aleph had the League not held his job over his head. It was cruel. Too cruel. "Next time we meet, I'll show Raikiri to you. He's something else. You want to know what it's like riding a lightning bolt, he'll give you that experience. Before I learned more about him, I used to think he was the reincarnation of the Raikou that sacrificed itself during the Johto invasion attempt."

As more wild Pokémon fled the fire-types, Josh at last guided Craggro westward, having to withdraw his mount because they would not fit down the staircase to the next level together. "How deep do you want to go before we turn back?"