Josh's office building was small and only three floors. Real estate in Mauville was expensive, and most of the Gym's budget went to constructing the sprawling Racing Grounds just outside city limits, featuring two dozen intertwined courses that made the possibilities for Gym Challenges limitless. The waiting room was a love letter to the Johto deity Raikou, a fantasy of his childhood and an eternal reminder of how aiming for the stars nearly caused his life to irreversibly spiral downward.

Following directions from SHELLY SPIEL, the receptionist on duty, Raju would have made his way to a large third-floor office that had clearly been used as storage for a mainframe computer in years past. The south-facing windows gave the best view of the Mauville Racing Grounds below. ACE SHEEKE was at the main battle court, the redhead administering a challenge with several of Josh's most vicious dragons, including a Hydreigon. How could such a violent Pokémon be broken to the bridle? It was something that only a few skilled trainers could do, and the Mauville Leader was among their ranks.

Several of Josh's large, saddled Eeveelutions were out of their Poké Balls, Blinky the Jolteon and Janus the Espeon's eyes following Raju as he entered the office. Pinky the Shiny Sylveon was taking a nap in the corner, her feelers wrapped around a computer tower sitting on the floor.

Memorabilia of the legendary Pokémon Raikou was scattered everywhere: figurines, plush, and the like were neatly arranged throughout. Though the most valuable part of the collection on display was a single copy of every officially-produced Raikou trading card printed in the past two decades, his most precious was a 12-inch Raikou plush that sat on the corner of his desk, its condition indicative that it had been loved and cuddled with for quite some time.

"Morning, Raju," Josh greeted the standing Orthrus member. "Have a seat," he gestured toward one of the two office chairs on the other side of the desk before clicking and clacking on his keyboard, pulling a copy of the Gym's internal interview form to take notes on. "So from what I understand, you're interested in a position at Mauville Gym, correct?"

---

Raju Mystic

{WC: 367}
{PC: 1}

NAME            SPECIES           STATUS
Pinky           Sylveon**         Good
Blinky          Jolteon           Good
Janus           Espeon            Good

As Raju walked, he noticed the things. A gym battle, a race track...upon reaching the gym leader's office, he saw the oversized Eeveelutions. A shiny Sylveon in the corner, wrapped around a tower, and a Jolteon and Espeon staring him down. There was another thing he noticed. There was an obsession with a Pokemon that he was unfamiliar of. Strange dude. The gang member walked over to one of the chairs and sat in the one on the right. It was a bit of a whiplash...Josh didn't seem so uptight back then. Josh was behind a computer and tapped loudly on it. Yeah...this was scaring him now. The blonde started to sweat about this interview.

At the question, he gulped and nodded. After another second or two, he realized he should probably say something. "Yes sir." His voice sounded a touch squeekier than normal. The gang member didn't do well with any kind of authority figure in an official capacity. He was only glad that Jack Magnus was pretty chill after that initial interview into the gang. More so since he was also legit, and held no judgement whatsoever. Typically, more official people do hold judgement. And that perhaps, made him most afraid of all.



Josh Devlin

Raju was right; there was a remarkable difference between the Josh on Route 110's old highway and the one before him now. One was the casual and friendly Josh. The one before him was the League professional. Not necessarily uptight, but a lot more formal. He took his hand off the computer's mouse long enough to pat the Raikou plush's grey crown. "I pulled up your League file, and I noticed you do not possess any Hoenn League Gym Badges. Do you have any Badges from other regions?"

Gym Badges were an important measure of Trainer prowess respected worldwide. One of a Gym Leader's responsibilities was to make sure they only handed out Badges to those who were truly worthy. Perhaps Raju was looking for a different position. "Were you looking for something more of a physical position such as a Gym Trainer or security, or were you looking for something more clerical?"

After giving Raju a chance to answer, Josh would clack away at his keyboard again, taking notes on his responses. Once he was done, the Gym Leader drew the Raikou plush toward himself and continued the interview. "A lack of Hoenn League Badges will not disqualify you from consideration. I do need to ask you, though: what skills do you have that will let you succeed in this position? Why do you want this position?"

---

Raju Mystic

{WC: 228}
{PC: 2}

NAME            SPECIES           STATUS
Pinky           Sylveon**         Good
Blinky          Jolteon           Good
Janus           Espeon            Good

Raju wasn't too surprised that he had a file. He came in legally from Unova, then settled down here in Mauville after coming in from Slateport. He shook his head. "I was too young to have a Pokemon in Unova, and when I moved with my aunt in Paldea, I was too busy helping her out. I have battled a few trainers that earned one or more badges from the gym leaders there, and won most of them. There was one battle that stood out most, not necessarily because I lost, but due to other reasons..." That loss was an interesting one...it was the closest Pokemon battle he'd had. Either he'd won handily or he'd lost handily, typically by those that had six to eight badges.

Either way, Josh then went on to ask about what position he wanted, listing off a few. "I could be security, I do much the same at the Host Club. But I would like to be a Gym Trainer, specifically one for racing. While I'm still training my own recently caught Cyclizar, I do have a Paldean Blaze Breed Tauros that'll do nicely right now. I don't know how much you paid attention back on the route when we first met, but I was able to handle the speed that your Cyclizar was using, even when it was using Quick Attack." His own status as a martial artist and posessing more reaction speed and skill than strength helped. Even though he did have a surprising amount of strength for someone his size.

Once that was done, Josh was typing up a storm. After adjusting the plushy, and Raju fidgetting with Brownie in his lap, the gym leader spoke again. More standard questions. "I have experience riding Pokemon. Both makeshift races and more liesurely rides. Cyclizar, obviously, but I've also ridden Paldean Tauros. More specifically, the Blaze Breed that I have, Big Bert. I want this position to help me grow as a person. I'm...not good with words...I'm more of a guy of action than anything..." He felt like shrinking back inside the chair, and couldn't even maintain eye contact in any shape or form.


Josh Devlin

So it was an issue of age. He had indirect experience in the Paldean Gym Curcuit, it seemed; though the distant region's Gyms were a lot less challenging than Hoenn's, they still carried some weight. He remained silent, clacking away at his keyboard as Raju continued on, only stopping at the mention of wanting to be a racing Gym Trainer. "I do remember that much. If you are able to handle a Cyclizar's Quick Attack, then you would be a good fit for that position. I do want to warn you, though, that Gym Trainers here are responsible for helping out both with racing challenges and battle challenges. You won't do just one or the other."

The Blaze Breed Paldean Tauros was a Pokémon Josh had never heard of; the Paldean Tauros on his own Gym's roster was one he understood little about. Angrath didn't even have racing training; he was strictly a Pokémon that helped with maintenance. "I can tell you did your homework. Well done. That actually gives me the answer to the next question I was about to ask." Josh went silent again, keying in details to be able to compare answers to those of candidates he narrowly rejected.

Clicking through several more prompts on his screen, it gave the Gym Leader the next question to ask of Raju. "Next, could you describe to me one of your moments of greatest personal success and one of your most difficult moments of personal failure?" The sleeping Sylveon woke and started walking toward Raju, gently touching the candidate with her feelers if he allowed it.

---

Raju Mystic

{WC: 268}
{PC: 3}

NAME            SPECIES           STATUS
Pinky           Sylveon**         Good
Blinky          Jolteon           Good
Janus           Espeon            Good

Raju started to hold onto Brownie. Yep, he was sweating even harder now, no matter the temperature of the room. There was no real choice as a Gym Trainer. It was both, or no dice. That was fine. Big Bert was quick and powerful, and Jigawatt was much the same, just a distanced fighter compared to the close range destruction BB can do. Some of his other Pokemon would also be good fighters, even speedy enough to embody the gym and its theme. Samurai and Typhon particularly. Though Shellgore and Borrito could be good for the opposite...to suddenly switch styles in the middle of combat. The compliment did make his cheeks light up with a blush.

As he waited for the next question, Josh was typing and clicking. Just what was it that he was on? What was he putting down? This did not help his anxiety! The next question sure as hell didn't help matters any. Particularly since they were related to each other. "My most difficult moment of failure was failing to protect my mom from my dad. I'd rather not go into too many details, let's just say that it led to me being sent to my aunt's. At the same time, my greatest moment of personal success was tracking down the person that saved me, and thanking them." He didn't often approach people. He was more likely to throw a fist at someone than actually talking to them.



Josh Devlin

There was little surprise that Raju took his time answering the question. It was by far the most difficult question on the interview, designed to give insight into how someone acted in their moments of greatest triumph and greatest struggle. Their highs and lows. "Understandable. I can relate to that; I had to save my own family from Rocket when they tried to take over Johto. That was before I even moved to Hoenn in the first place. That you can do that makes you a trainer with considerable talent."

Josh remained silent for some time, able to get the rest of the answers to the remaining interview questions through previous notes he had taken. Crunching the numbers, it seemed the candidate was adequate for the position, though just good enough to get past other candidates. "Now that we've established you want to be a Gym Trainer here, and that we've established you will be expected to be part of the field for Racing Challenges, I have a follow-up question. You said you have a Cyclizar and a Blaze Breed Tauros. What Pokémon do you have that would be good for racing on water and in the sky?"

---

Raju Mystic

{WC: 199}
{PC: 4}

NAME            SPECIES           STATUS
Pinky           Sylveon**         Good
Blinky          Jolteon           Good
Janus           Espeon            Good

Seemed the answer somewhat resonated with Josh. Granted, it was against an organization, not someone you know. And supposed to be able to trust. Although...what did that mean? The fact that he was able to track down the Orthrus Gang from very little and years afterward showed that he had talent as a trainer? How?! Raju was so confused. After some more typing, Josh asked another question. The blonde nodded in confirmation. He did indeed have Pokemon for the sky and sea for racing. "Yes. Jigawatt you've seen before. Typhon, my Gyarados, would be good for water courses. He even knows Dragon Dance to increase his speed. Jigawatt also knows Agility." And Quick Attack, but he wanted to replace that move with something else. His Kilowatrel was huge even by Kilowatrel standards. So long as the water course was large enough, Gyarados would be fantastic.


Josh Devlin

Having three good Pokémon for racing already was a big positive in the Gym Leader's eyes; it was a sign that the applicant was serious about the position. Gyarados might not work for every aquatic course, but it would work for most of them. The Gyarados could also be smaller than usual ones; it was one of the few Pokémon that Josh wanted to track down a smaller-than-normal sized specimen of. "Well, Raju, that's all the questions I have of you."

The frantic typing to come may have been nerve-wracking for the candidate. When the Gym Leader was done, he exhaled. "Raju, I have come to a decision. I'm going to send you an email with upcoming days I can take you through orientation, self-paced modules, and some hands-on training. You don't have to decide on a schedule today, but I do need a decision on Friday. Once you're out of training, I'll get you added to our personnel roster." Josh extended his hand as he stood up from his desk. "Welcome to Mauville Racing Grounds, Raju."

---

Raju Mystic

{WC: 179}
{PC: 5}

NAME            SPECIES           STATUS
Pinky           Sylveon**         Good
Blinky          Jolteon           Good
Janus           Espeon            Good

Raju waited nerviously for the typing to stop. Why did those keys sound so bloody loud to him? And why was there so much typing?! What else was there that Josh needed to type so much?! If that was all the questions he had, what else was there to do or say?! Thankfully, it didn't last too long, and the dark haired man came to a conclusion. Raju perked up when he heard email and days to go through orientation. Did that mean that he was accepted?! Raju was no stranger to training, so that was fine. Scheduling he'd have to work something out with the Club Olympus owner. Also standing up, and with his hand clamy due to sweating from sheer nerviousness, Raju took the handshake. "Thank you sir. I do need to talk to some people, but I should know something well before Friday. I'll email you back." With that, he walked out. The next few days were going to be interesting. He'd never done anything like this before, but he was also kind of excited too. And maybe a tiny hint of dread.


Josh Devlin

The drenched hand was a sign of both Raju's nerves and the relied that he landed the position. The interview process was not exactly friendly to either side; it was nerve-wracking for the applicant, and it often times felt like pulling teeth for the interviewer, especially if the candidate stumbled on a particularly challenging question. This, though went fairly smoothly.

"You're welcome. Looking forward to having you aboard," the Gym Leader smiled, locking his computer's screen, standing, and pushing in his chair. "The sooner you can get back to me, the more likely I can slot you in at the time you want. I look forward to seeing you in the next class, and remember: with great speed comes great responsibility." With that, the Gym Leader led Raju back to the elevator and the main lobby, where he would be free to depart and follow-up with the Olympus.

---

Raju Mystic

{WC: 148}
{PC: 6}

NAME            SPECIES           STATUS
Pinky           Sylveon**         Good
Blinky          Jolteon           Good
Janus           Espeon            Good