[attr="class","header"]WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU MAKES YOU STRONGER

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The mission was the perfect opportunity to test out one of the newest members of his team. He had recently acquired a Swellow that could be used as a ride Pokémon. It was larger than others of its species, but not as big as one would expect an Alpha Pokémon to be. It was just big enough to be considered a ride Pokémon. And if he ever exceeded six feet in height, it probably wouldn't work well as a ride Pokémon, but luckily that would never happen.
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Upon reaching the meeting point, he was not surprised to see that Josh had arrived before him. Nine times out of ten, he would be early, but he had been delayed by his sister this time. It was only when he pointed out that he would be late if he didn't leave that he was able to make it on time even with Mistral's speed. But luckily he was on time so he didn't have to be annoyed with his sister. He knew she meant well, but he wouldn't forget the things he needed.
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Unlike his own flying type Pokémon, Josh had a Pidgeot, which, like Swellow, was a normal/flying type. As Josh spoke about what was expected of him, he nodded. Yes, he had received a brief summary of the mission and what was expected of them. He was sure that as a higher-ranking member, Josh had more information, but as long as he understood the general idea of the mission, he would be fine.
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When asked if he wanted to be briefed, he shook his head. "No, I know the general idea of the mission. We can get going," he told the older male from his position in Mistral's saddle. Since Josh was the mission leader, he would wait until Josh had taken flight before following suit.[break] Josh Devlin

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[attr="class","header"]WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU MAKES YOU STRONGER

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Although he hadn't always been the best at reading expressions, he was getting better. So he could tell that the gym leader was surprised by the size of Mistel. He could understand that, since the dual type was big for her species. Mistel was big enough for Axel to ride comfortably without being too big for the flying type.
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Even with how big Mistel was, Josh would never be able to do that. The gym leader was probably at least six feet tall, maybe a little taller. Guessing someone's height had never been his forte. All he knew was that the older male was considerably taller than him. Then again, that wasn't too hard for other guys to accomplish. He was only 5'2" after all.
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"Thanks, she somehow got into our attic. She wouldn't leave, and when my sister tried to make her, she would peck at her. She's kind of annoyed that I took her in as my own for that reason," he said with a chuckle. Seriously, he had no idea how the bird had gotten into their house. Though he figured that maybe Mistel had been lonely or jealous of seeing other Pokémon get attention. Those were the only reasons he could think of for a wild Pokémon to be near people.
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"She’s calmed down though. Perhaps she just wanted a trainer of her own or something," he said with a small shrug. He had never had any trouble with the bird Pokémon, and since she had joined him, Mistel hadn't given his sister any trouble either.
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Putting that little anecdote aside, it was decided that it was time to get the mission underway. Flying was great. Feeling the wind rushing through his hair as they flew towards the destination. If he wasn't trying to be all professional for his first mission as a ranger, he would probably let his joy be known.
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Hearing Josh's voice over the comms, he let his gaze drift in the direction Josh was speaking about. "Ready to head down when you are, over," he said, briefly taking his gaze off the island they would be going to to look around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so he redirected his attention back to the island and waited until Josh started to descend.
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Once he did, he would follow. As Josh was the higher-ranking member, it was best for him to go first.[break] Josh Devlin

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[attr="class","header"]WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU MAKES YOU STRONGER

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Unfortunately, his acquisition of Mistral was the funniest story he had. Most of his other Pokémon had been caught in the usual way, except for Mirage. He didn't want to go into all that, as it might bring down the mood. They needed to stay focused on the mission.
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As they descended a bit, he continued to scan their surroundings. He looked not only below them but also at the sky around them. They couldn't rule out the possibility of flying Pokémon appearing. The last thing they needed was to be caught off guard by a Pokémon while they were so focused on finding the lost family.
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Seeing no reason to comment, he simply nodded to show he had heard before resuming his search of their surroundings. As his gaze moved over the island, he noticed some movement that caught his attention. He looked back at one spot and realized there was more than one shape moving together. He directed the older male's attention to it.
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"I see something. It's not very clear, but it definitely looks like multiple shapes moving together," he informed the gym leader. Based on their shapes, he figured they were Pokémon, so there was a chance it was the wild gathering of Pokémon they were supposed to watch out for.[break] Josh Devlin

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[attr="class","header"]WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU MAKES YOU STRONGER

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As the older male asked where he was looking, he pointed to where he had noticed movement. The sooner they completed the mission, the sooner they could save the father and son. With the indication of movement, the gym leader descended even lower, and he followed the elite ranger's lead.
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He quickly scanned the surroundings before identifying the Pokémon they had encountered. Although he had only read about it in his father's notes, he recognized it as a Croconaw.
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"I've never seen it in person, but my father wrote about it in his notes," he said, frowning slightly. They needed to be cautious and avoid getting too close to its teeth.
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As he suggested getting closer, he nodded in agreement. Since Josh was older, he allowed him to go first before following. He couldn't help but wonder if this was the same group that the father and son had encountered.[break] Josh Devlin

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[attr="class","header"]WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU MAKES YOU STRONGER

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Being the rash type of person that he was, he didn't see a problem with that. "Yes, I'm sure Mistral and I are up for the task," he agreed before urging the bird Pokémon to fly lower. He guided the dual-type low enough for the other Pokémon to notice him, but not low enough to be at risk of being attacked, unless they fired a water attack. He had taught his Pokémon evasive maneuvers.
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Once he had their attention, he tried to keep their focus on him by flying around them. Sometimes, he had to perform evasive maneuvers to avoid attacks. However, a few of them were not easily distracted, and one of them shot a water gun towards the gym leader. Luckily, the older male managed to avoid the attack.
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He did well enough to release a Manectric and a Zeraora into the midst of the Pokémon. He had seen Manectric before, but Zeraora was a Pokémon he had never encountered. Although he had read about it, seeing it in person was a different experience.
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The Pokémon seemed intimidated enough by the two electric types, so he didn't expect much more trouble. He decided to focus on locating the father and son, a task that had been put on hold due to the group of Pokémon. Since they were currently occupied, he could return to the task at hand.
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As he scanned the area, he noticed some movement and redirected his attention in that direction. Spotting bits of clothing, he flew closer to confirm if it was the people they were searching for or if a piece of clothing had simply gotten stuck on something.[break] Josh Devlin

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[attr="class","header"]WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU MAKES YOU STRONGER

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Having left Josh to distract the group of Croconaw, he flew further inland, keeping his gaze on the ground below him for any signs of the father and son duo. While it was possible they had scaled a tree to avoid the wild Croconaw group, he found the idea highly unlikely. He hadn't really ever seen an adult climb a tree, after all; that was a kid thing. So with that line of thinking, he kept his focus on the ground.
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A flicker of movement caught his attention, and he was just about to turn Mistral in the direction of the movement when a message came over RaiCorp Vision. Startled by the sudden message of Pokémon casualties being high, he jerked the reins a bit too hard, almost crashing into one of the few trees that grew on the island. Luckily, Mistral managed to pull away from the tree before the crash could happen, but she didn't seem too happy about the near crash.
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"Sorry, girl," he murmured, raising one hand to turn off RaiCorp Vision before lowering that same hand to stroke the top of Mistral's head. Once he was sure he was calm enough, he returned to the task at hand.
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Spotting someone who looked to be around his own age, he flew down lower until he was low enough to safely jump off. Approaching the boy with his hands up to show he wasn't going to hurt him, he slowly approached.
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Once close enough, he inspected him, looking him over for any injuries. Seeing nothing that really stood out, he turned to the boy. "Are you hurt anywhere?" he asked.
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"My ankle hurts. I tripped when those Croconaw attacked," he muttered. "I was separated from my dad when that happened."
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Listening to him, he nodded before inspecting the ankle. "Well, nothing seems to be broken. Probably just a sprain," he told him before getting on the communication device.
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"Hey Josh, I found the boy. It seems he and his father got separated when the Croconaw showed up. The kid's not too banged up, may have a sprained ankle, but other than that, he seems fine."
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Once he was sure Josh had gotten the message and given his coordinates, he eyed the kid. "Do you think you can walk?" he inquired. It was good to know how bad the sprain might be.
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When the kid didn't immediately fall over upon standing, he nodded. "Doesn't seem too bad, but it probably isn't the best idea to walk on it for too long," he said as he helped the kid sit back down.[break] Josh Devlin

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[attr="class","header"]WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU MAKES YOU STRONGER

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Seeing no point in speaking, other than to give a general location, he waited for Josh to find them. While he waited, he would consider what could be done to further help the kid. He had a small first aid kit in his bag but wasn't sure if it had any bandages. His sister had packed it just in case, and he hadn't yet had time to check it out.
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Even if he had, now wasn't the time to tend to an injured ankle anyway. Staying in the location where a wild Pokémon attack had recently happened was just asking for trouble. Even if Josh had scared them off, there was always the possibility of the Pokémon attacking in some form of revenge, or even a different Pokémon attacking entirely.
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He was pulled out of his thoughts by the arrival of the older male. Nodding a curt greeting to the elite ranger, he redirected his attention to the kid, figuring Josh would have some questions for him. Something that was proven true when the dark-haired man spoke to the kid.
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There was something about the kid that made him want to reach out and comfort him. It was a weird feeling considering he was the youngest of his family. But he just attributed it to the fact that fear made him look really young.
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"We'll find your dad, we're trained for this kind of stuff," he said, hoping to comfort the kid even if what he said wasn't fully true. Josh was trained in this kind of stuff, but Axel himself really wasn't at least not as well as the older male was.
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The kid was uncertain and scared, though. A little bit of stretching the truth would be fine if it meant comforting the kid. He didn't like seeing people this distraught.
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As the kid was getting on Saber, he moved to help him. He didn't do much, just helped him get on in a way that wouldn't jostle his injured ankle. The last thing they needed was for him to further injure his ankle.
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Once the kid was on, he turned his attention to Josh. "We really should get moving. Lingering in one place too long probably isn't the best idea. Besides, we really do need to find his father. Perhaps when we find him and are in a safer location, we can see about doing a bit of first aid," he stated, resisting the urge to glance at the boy as he mentioned finding his father.
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He didn't doubt Josh about the Croconaw, but there were other dangers, both Pokémon and non-Pokémon. It would probably be best to locate the father before it got dark. It would be hard to accomplish anything if it got dark.
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However, as Josh was the elite ranger, he looked to him to make the final decision.[break] Josh Devlin

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