Josh was a little more apprehensive than Robin was about taking random Pokémon eggs to hatch. His career required him to raise exclusively a specific subset of Pokémon. That subset was not large, encompassing less than one in five documented species. He would feel awful to care for a Pokémon egg, only to see the young within be heartbroken from his lack of willingness to raise a Pokémon whose fully-evolved form could not wear a saddle.

Such was being the Mauville Gym Leader.

"That's a lot harder for me, Robin," Josh admitted, "especially if the Pokémon can't be identified from the markings on the egg. Some Pokémon have distinct markings on their eggs so you can tell what's inside them. Most are too similar to tell apart, even for experts. They seem desperate to move them, though. I don't think I can say no."

Behind him shuffled the feet of quite the large Linoone, obviously bred for extreme size. On its back was a heavy-looking saddle that covered most of its sun-facing fur and raised a rider nearly a foot off the normal-type. He seemed more than able to handle it. Strength was not the issue with riding one; the problem Josh had to get creative to find a solution to was that the tan Pokémon was only about as tall as a kindergartener.

Robin's sweet talk landed the two Pokémon eggs. While the younger Ranger seemed to be more excited to hatch said egg, Josh remained much less enthusiastic about it. Shrugging, he accepted the egg with reluctance, unable to tell by the markings on the outside what would hatch from it.

As Screech sniffed Robin's hand and bumped her if she allowed it, Josh gave the normal-type a gentle pat on the head. "Had to get a bit creative to make it possible, though; they're too short to ride bareback." Her remark about the Gym Leader's menagerie reminded him of the day he took Ettie to his Gym and they rode around on most of his Pokémon. That was when he had only fifty or so to pick from. By now, that number had doubles. There were simply too many to show in a single day. "Might need a whole weekend, but if you've got the time, we should make a little vacation out of it!" he sheepishly answered.

Josh froze when he was asked what the egg would be named. "I... I..." he continued to stutter. "I would have to know what's in the egg before I gave it a name. It's... the way I am."

Josh was indeed not bluffing. One of the hallmarks of his Gym's challenge was using a Pokémon of the same species the challenger brought, to give the illusion that their challenge would be on a level playing field. He laughed at Robin's correction. "I have a lot of favorites. Let's make a day out of it. Perhaps some weekend when we're not both busy." Between Josh's service hours with the Rangers and his Gym, he was one busy man. He could not wait to afford to take more time away from work. He needed time to himself more often; moments like this were precious to him anymore.

"When you meet more of my Pokémon like Screech, you'll understand why I'm waiting until it hatches," Josh reinforced. Bonding with a Pokémon regardless of its species, capabilities, or even knowing its identity took a different kind of heart than the one the Master of Faster had. As his title would spell out, Josh was loyal only to speed. Whether that be by making a traditionally slow Pokémon fast or a traditionally fast one even faster, that was what he liked of Pokémon. If he caught a Pokémon that couldn't keep up, he would donate it to a cause or release it back into the wild.

Rather than see how thin the shell was, Josh put his ears up to the shell and felt it for movement. As he tilted it to one side, he felt a thrust from within the egg, knocking him off balance for a split second. "Feisty little guy. That's a good trait for a really speedy Pokémon to have. Aggressive Pokémon usually make the fastest mounts. It's like riding a thunderstorm."

Josh grinned at Robin's first response. If she really thought riding a thunderstorm was fun, he could oblige. "So one of the Pokémon at my Gym is Raikiri. He's a Zeraora that moves more like a traditional cat... for instance, how a Persian would. That's as close to riding a thunderstorm as I'll ever get." While he didn't explicitly offer Robin a ride on the mythical thundercat, she may have been able to put two and two together on the day they met up.

The Gym Leader didn't answer the first question, sensing a follow-up one. He was right. "You hit the nail on the head," he nodded with a smile. "It's all about learning how you and your Pokémon connect, and what you can get out of each other. When I was breaking in Kokusho, my Hydreigon, he had three sets of halters on him, one for each head. That's how traditional Hydreigon riding tack works. Eventually I figured out he only wanted to be controlled by his main head. Ever since then he's been... I wouldn't exactly say tame, but I don't get sore riding him anymore." Every now and again, though, that Hydreigon would buck Josh. Hard. The cocoon he wore amplified that force, too, often times having to take a day off afterward. He felt bad for his pen pushers at the Gym - those poor people who had to call everyone and reschedule their appointments.

Josh shrugged at Robin's proposed name. "What you name yours is up to you. I won't judge you for it. It's not that I don't want to give mine a name; I just want to know what's inside the--" he cut himself off as he felt another kick from inside the egg. "Wow. I've hatched a lot of eggs before, and it's pretty rare to get one this energetic. I think whatever is inside this egg is going to be a real challenge to raise." While they were waiting, the Gym Leader headed to the back, checking on a Litleo he had left there a while ago. The cute lion cub was ferrying a Scorbunny around the playground, playing rodeo with the excited, long-eared fire-type.

Josh chuckled at Robin's remarks about Raikiri. "As it turns out, it's very challenging to raise as many Pokémon as I do. As much as I'd love to have him with me all the time, I have to give them all the time they deserve. I do carry him with me more than any other Pokémon I have, though. There was a day I used to believe he really was Raikou." It had been so long since he had to keep his passion for the Johto Beast a secret. Since he ascended to be a Gym Leader, nearly everyone in Hoenn knew that he revered the god of speed.

The chuckle grew into laughter at the Ranger's second remark. "Some of them can be pretty feisty; Kokusho, my Hydreigon, bucked me off on more than one occasion. Especially with flying Pokémon, you gotta have a second one backing you up. A fall when you're at altitude is not going to be pleasant." Neither was the buck-off itself from a Pokémon as strong as a Hydreigon. They had some serious muscle behind them.

Seconds after the crack formed in Robin's egg, a piece of eggshell flew toward Josh's nose as his own egg jumped in his hands. "They must have been," Josh remarked, setting the egg on Screech's back so he could more easily brace. Another piece of eggshell flew toward a Clefairy at high speed, causing the fairy-type to let out a yelp. It was only a matter of time before the Pokémon within were born.

"Just what's inside them?" the Gym Leader asked with bated breath.