Josh exhaled as the interview ended. He didn't bomb it, though he would certainly be asked many questions about it. As awesome as many thought it would be to be a celebrity, Josh knew too well that it wasn't all glamor and glitz. He got precious little time to himself. Even when he went to Mauville's Round One Arcade, many players recognized him. While he liked the crowd when performing well at rhythm games, there were days when he just wanted to game in peace.

"You'll find your calling," Josh assured the reporter. "When I came to the region at the end of June, I never thought I would be a Ranger. Never thought I would be a Gym Leader, either. And look where I am now. Your calling might not be what you expect it to be. But if you keep an open mind, it will find you." And now he was one of the finest in Hoenn. If he wasn't a Gym Leader, he would have been a Ranger Captsin by now. Or perhaps even Head Ranger. Many of the Rangers he had trained or helped train, such as Genevieve Cromwell and Yuina Higashi , were not among the most talented on the force.

The natural question was next: where to? Josh was more than happy to answer. "One thing I do is chase Space-Time Distortions in search of Pokémon from them. You'd almost never find a Ninetales this big outside them. As a Pokémon rider, I'm fascinated by Pokémon that grow way bigger than average specimens of their kind do. Mauville Gym at this point is known for them." In another world, they would be called Alphas. Terrifying, red-eyed, aggressive giants that were at the top of the food chain. They would even appear in Hoenn within the confines of a Space-Time Distortion, losing their terrifying eye color and the Alpha status when captured and removed from the temporal anomaly. That was a whole different discussion for a different day. One he would have to have with Yuina eventually, but not until she was ready.

"There's been a report of dimensional instability south of Petalburg. I'm gonna check it out. If you're curious and want to report on it at all, you're more than welcome to saddle up with me. I just hope you have strong Pokémon to defend yourself with, cause it can get rough in there."