A sonic boom ravaged the air above Route 111 as a yellow, electric comet sped north across the wide-open fields and hills. The Mauville Gym Leader, Josh Devlin , let out a scream he could not hear. He could not hear the wind around him, nor the stampede-like sound of his Jolteon steed's paws pounding the ground beneath him at surreal rates. Such was the nature of the HYPERSONIC PLASMA CHARGE, the Gym's signature technique. It was one that anyone who brought a Mega Evolution, Z-Move, or Tera Orb to his Gym would have to contend with.

The Ranger who tipped Josh off about a young blonde stuck in a trough on Route 111 had stressed the urgency of reaching them quickly. He would do so long before the rest of his team caught up. "Morning!" he greeted the troubled traveler, raising his helmet's visor so they could easily see his face. "Elite Ranger Devlin or Gym Leader Devlin, but you can call me Josh if you want. Need a hand getting up?" He slid down Blinky's back and extended a hand downward.

A loud "YEEEEEEE-HAAAAAWWWW!!" reached the Gym Leader's and Wren's ears well after he had arrived and greeted the trainer stuck at the bottom of the steep dip to the side of the road The trapped trainer would have been able to see the glint of a QUICKINIUM-Z crystal hanging from the Jolteon's saddle.

That voice was also his.

After a few minutes of laying there, contemplating pokemonicide, Wren tested his body.

Oh. Yeah. No. Nope.

It felt like his tendons were over-tuned strings on a guitar, twanging in a discordant note that sent red alarms to his brainstem. He sighed and lowered himself carefully onto his back again.

And then the sky broke. Or was it his vision? Everything had tinged yellow, and all the hair on his body had raised with the sudden static in the air.

“Huh? What the fu--”

And then there was a man chirping a greeting, as if it was totally normal to appear at a bazillion miles per hour on the biggest jolteon he’d ever seen. Wren blinked, struck dumb, through the greeting, still in shock (no pun intended).

“Hrgh?” He said, then flushed in embarrassment and coughed hastily. “Uhh, yeah. Thanks.” He struggled to sit up, wincing as his nerves jangled and his limbs flared numb.

‘YEEEHAAWWWW’

“GAH!” Wren startled, missing his attempt to grab the man’s hand as the shout voice hit.

Meatloaf meanwhile had been sniffing the joltean and dancing around its feet. Switching targets, she dived at elite ranger devlin’s leg and started to try and climb it to get to his pockets and look for possible treats.

Wren closed his eyes and breathed out his nose, more than a little mortified.

“Feel free to throw her. Preferably into another ditch. Or the sun.” He grumbled, reaching out his hand again to allow himself to be pulled up.

Josh Devlin

Josh was even startled hearing his own shout. It had been the first time he had ridden Blinky, or any of his Pokémon, in the middle of a Z-Move. At least in a long while. Not since before Dewford Two, a battle he really wanted to forget about. What a ride, though! Seeing Hoenn as no more than a swirling sea of colors as he dashed across the land impossibly fast was a blood-pumping experience for the Gym Leader. Going fast just never got old for him.

The Zigzagoon crawling up his leg and toward his supply bag threw Josh off balance, preventing him from fully extending his arm deep enough to reach WREN WINTER . By the time he noticed what was going on, an entire clump of Sitrus Berries was missing. Josh reached for the rambunctious Pokémon and set it down on the ground nearby. "No more treats, okay?"

Turning back toward Wren, Josh clicked open a second Poké Ball, from it emerging a saddle-wearing Gliscor that was quick to peer down the ditch Wren was stuck in. Did all of the Gym Leader's Pokémon wear riding gear? Just what kind of Gym Leader was he?

Steel Needle crawled down into the ditch and gestured toward the seat on his back with his tail. "Hop on! Steel Needle will get you out of there. Just hold on tight - he can climb!"

Meatloaf basked in her success, spitting out the large clump of berries to admire the slobber-coated mess with a gleam in her eye like a prospector who struck gold. Wren made a mental note to compensate his rescuer (and not give Meatloaf dinner - Nurse joy already had told him off about Meatloaf’s extra loafiness, she was supposed to be on a diet now).

From his bad vantage point of being flat out on the ground in a divet, Wren tried to surreptitiously eye Devin. He’d never had the chance to interact with gym leaders before. His gaze kept being drawn back to the massive jolteon which outsized his sylveon by many times, and the speed at which they’d arrived.

Honestly, he felt how he’d always imagined stumbling into a legendary pokemon might feel: intimidated.

He could only be thankful his visceral reaction to the giant scary bat pokemon crawling towards him was muted heavily by his own body’s refusal to let him do more than twitch and tense in pain.

“Oh, ah, yeah, haha. Heya big buddy, those are some intense uh. Eyes, and pinsors, heya.” Wren wrestled his nerves down mercilessly, and rolled over onto his stomach with a grunt of pain. “We’re cool though, right, Ironman? Needle, I mean - yeah, just gonna-” He half crawled and half dragged himself onto the gliscor’s back, amused to find a saddle there. His upper body wasn’t affected too badly, it was only his lower back and legs that throbbed, so he was relatively certain he could hold on long enough to be lifted out.

“Um. Giddy...up?”

Josh Devlin

Josh's passion often made him come off just as intimidating as a snarling Raikou. If there was one thing he wished he could change about his physical self. it was how imposing he looked. He simply was not approachable to timid folks despite his friendliness, and frequenly, chattiness.

Steel Needle did her best to put on a smile and reassure the scared-looking Wren that she meant no harm. At WREN WINTER 's meek command, the poison-type Pokémon crawled up the steep ditch without any issue. "Glad I was nearby to help!" Josh waved, Blinky barking to say hello to both Steel Needle and Wren. Many traveling trainers would have been able to climb out of that ditch, but Wren could not. Was something physically wrong with him?

"What's your name, if I may ask?" the curious rider asked.

The gliscor’s climb was as smooth as Wren could have hoped. His arms quivered, and felt a little like cheese strings that had been heated just enough to soften, but the one strength he had to his name was grip strength, so he dug finger bruises into his own wrists around Steel Needle’s neck and grit his teeth.

He hissed out a breath as quietly as he could once they were safely horizontal on land once more. Agony was set to a low simmer in his lower back, but it always sucked to reveal being in pain. It felt like pointing out a giant glowing eye on his body and going ‘well hey look-it here, my big ol’ weakspot!’ Like he was some video game enemy. So instead he pushed himself up to sit and swallowed a wince.

“Wren Winters,” he said, internally wincing again because of how strained his voice sounded, “And yeah man, super lucky you were around. I thought we’d be stuck down there for days. I was preparing Meatloaf’s” and here he motioned towards her, “eulogy for when I had to turn her into real meatloaf to survive. Better it didn’t happen - she’s so troublesome she’d have given me indigestion for sure.”

He was just about to ask for a hand up when, to his complete shock, a couple pokemon arrived. Instantly his eyes were drawn to the roaring flames of the rapidash’s mane, shocked brain reverting him to blurt out a primitive: “Gah! Fire!”

In his line of work, fire was an inevitable disaster, so on instinct he reached for an extinguisher he didn’t have. Then, since his hand was already out, he switched it so it was held out with his palm facing outwards.

“Whoooa horsie. Be a good horsie, kay?”

Josh Devlin

(wren do not be having those trainer instincts lol)

And Josh thought he was self-critical and negative toward himself. This Wren was like looking into a mirror. Very eye-opening. "Don't say that about yourself!" he insisted. "That's what the Rangers are here for. There are too many people out there that think Pokémon are only good for fighting. They're not. I'd rather save lives using them any day." While the rider's posture wasn't great, it was good enough; Steel Needle was quite the unusual steed, the cape of flesh on its back forcing a rider to sit at an angle that was not straight up.

The curious Rapidash, not afraid of Steel Needle at all, approached Steel Needle and Wren, attracted to a scent on them. Perhaps there was a type of Berry the mechanic was carrying that interested him. "Rapidash are some of the most reliable Pokémon to ride on in the entire world. They are the single most common ride Pokémon in the world for a reason. They're really fast at full gallop, but you'd be hard-pressed to find an easier Pokémon to learn with. I think you should catch it." The Gym Leader kept Janus' Ball handy, as well as a second empty one in case Wren couldn't handle it, but he wanted to see what the young man was capable of on his own first.

By now, Aleph, Josh's Type: Null, had also caught up. If he had one of his fits... oh boy, would that ever complicate things.

Wren opened his mouth and then closed it. Something about this ranger’s earnest and good natured words made it hard to be his usual sarcastic self and respond to ‘some people think pokemon are only good for fighting’ with ‘and some are barely good enough to be emergency rations’ while motioning towards the galarian zigzagoon who was chasing her own tail currently with a focus that showed she legitimately believed it to be a separate entity.

Was there a little golden aura shining behind ranger Devlin, a little halo of wholesome? Or was that the glow of the rapidash’s flames? Ah, wren needed to level up his social skill rank to deal with people like him!

“You have a lot of faith in me,” Wren said with a self depreciating laugh, “but I’m really not a good trainer. I was, uh, forced to be out of commission for quite a few years when I was injured - I am not even sure I remember the whole catching thing.”

Even so, the doleful eyes of the rapidash caught his attention, and he felt his heart stir. She was so friendly and inquisitive! The long crippled and buried flame of pokemon ambition surprisingly found itself sparked as if by the fire of the horse’s brilliant mane. Or was it the consequence of being around someone with easy confidence in him, as if it was natural?

With some effort, Wren slid off of the gliscor’s back, wincing. His legs trembled, pain lancing through the nerves of his lower back, but he managed to keep to his feet despite quaking and took a few steps closer to the rapidash.

Of course, it was too good to be true. With a sharp throb, his knees buckled, and he fell. To his surprise, the rapidash sidestepped so he landed against her side. Instinctively, he caught himself against her back. It was only his inability to move quickly that prevented himself from throwing himself away from the flames now crackling near him - but after screwing his eyes shut he realized he didn’t feel any burning. Just a pleasant warmth like one of the heat pads he often had to use. At least for now, she didn’t seem disposed to burn him.

She turned her head and lipped at him curiously, in a sort of imperious way that gave Wren the feeling he was being scolded. It was a bizarrely motherly feeling to get from a wild pokemon.

The rapidash blew out air from her nose and slowly lowered herself, and by extension him, down to the ground, nickering. He adjusted how he was sitting until he was leaning against her in a way that hurt his back the least.

Once there, she made some more sounds, neighing mixed with huffing - furthering the bizarre feeling of maternal scolding.

“You’re a sweet girl, aren’t you?” Wren said, in wonder. His heart hurt - they never warned you about wild pokemon being too wholesome in the books! “You wanna keep an eye on me? I need someone to keep me out of trouble.” After some digging, he shyly offered up one of the very few pokeballs he owned, holding it out to the pokemon, chest tight.

Josh Devlin
OOC: Trying to catch Rapidash

Thankfully for both of them, Aleph's fits weren't too bad, taking his wrath out on a poor, defenseless Fennekin nearby. He admired Wren's natural talent for appealing to wild Pokémon. "You're... good with untamed Pokémon," the Gym Leader complimented. "Have you thought about enlisting into the Rangers? With a heart like yours, you'd fit right in." It was a skill Josh wished he had. There were times he didn't have the right Pokémon for the job, but when a wild with the right skill set was about, a truly talented Ranger could befriend it long enough to do what needed to be done.

"You'll find a Rapidash easy yet rewarding to raise," Josh encouraged Wren. "They're unique in that while their bodies look like they're in fire, they can choose who they burn up. Once they warm up to you, riding on them feels refreshingly warm, like stepping in front of a register after being outside in the cold." Hopping on an untamed one, whether Kantonian or Galarian, was asking for trouble. "And if you want to get used to one first, I've got Ixion. She's a Rapidash just as big as that one. I would say I've got someone new at her reins every week."

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

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

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] FEMALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] FLASH FIRE
[attr="class","wildtabox"]BUG BITE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]LICK
[attr="class","wildtabox"]TACKLE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]FURY SWIPES
[attr="class","wildtabox"] ---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]WREN WINTER Josh Devlin

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

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

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

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] FEMALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] HEAVY METAL
[attr="class","wildtabox"]HEADBUTT	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]AUTOTOMIZE
[attr="class","wildtabox"]IRON DEFENSE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]HARDEN
[attr="class","wildtabox"] ---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]WREN WINTER Josh Devlin

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

WREN WINTER CAUGHT THE RAPIDASH!

The pokeball rocked once, gently, in his palm, before falling still. Wren blinked at it once, and then twice.
...
That worked?!! Just how badly did the rapidash wanna momma hen, ah?? Wearing the quintessential expression of ‘I didn’t think I’d get this far’, he turned his head to the other man.

“This really was a fluke.” He said. Now that he wasn’t being supported by the horse pokemon, he swayed where he sat, using the hand not holding the ball to brace against the hard ground. A steady sharp pain still radiated from his lower spine, clipping the wings of hope that the ranger’s words inspired before they could take flight.

“That’s real nice of you to say,” Wren said, forcing a smile, “but being a ranger seems like a pretty physical job. I got injured pretty bad a while back.” He motioned vaguely towards his back and lower half. “Considering a tiny little roll down the slope has fucked me up so bad I probably won’t be able to walk normally for a week, I doubt I’d be good at the whole rescue thing.”

He shrugged with the shoulder not occupied keeping him up.

“But if something mechanical needs rescuing from the scrap-yard, I’m your man. Best mechanic you’ll find.” He flashed a grin, though at this point the edges were obviously strained with traces of pain. His arm quivered supporting his weight as unpleasant numbness tingled in his limbs.

“Thanks for letting me know about rapidash.” His voice wavered, growing a bit fainter. He cleared his throat, annoyed at his own weakness. He. Was. Not. Going. To. Pass. Out.

“I’d love to take you up on that offer of, like, training wheels level riding, but I think it’s a ‘oh arceus, I just need to get home somehow and take, like, all the contents of my medicine cabinet and sleep for seven years until my spine feels less like a bent paperclip, and I feel vaguely human again' kind of day.”

Sweat beaded Wren’s brow, but he couldn’t wipe it away without the risk of keeling over.

“If you by chance have a pokemon that could carry someone the muscle consistency of a sliggo without them falling, I would be eternally grateful.”


Josh Devlin
OOC: Passing on the two wild pokemon

"No it wasn't!" Josh calmly corrected Wren. "Give yourself some credit!" He could say those words to anyone else, but he couldn't say them to himself. How hypocritical. And yet, if he wanted to be a Champion, he had to be a positive force for everyone in Hoenn. That included himself.

While Rangers were physical, some were more so than others. "Sure, field Rangers are physical, but there are plenty of more local tasks you could take care of. Administrative work, Pokémon caretaker at HQ, instructor... there's a lot you can do without having to go into the field."

Wren was injured, and clearly needed medical attention from how much he was groaning. "I can get you back to Mauville," he offered, withdrawing the rest of his team, other than Blinky, and sending out Janus, his Espeon. The psychic-type may have been the largest Espeon Wren had ever seen, roughly the Jolteon's side. He, too, wore a saddle, though this one was much more normal-looking than the electric-type's was. "Janus will keep you from falling, as long as you let him mind link with you. Don't worry about a thing; he's frieldly and obedient."

By the time Josh had finished petting the psychic Eeveelution's head, having to get as close as he could with Blinky, there was trouble brewing in the distance. Aleph had bounded off toward a Heatmor minding its own business. The Type: Null was tired of how long it was taking Josh to return to one of the rifts and get him brawling against Ultra Beasts again. Sparring with Jiujiu just was not cutting it anymore! He was furious, looking ready to ram and trample Blinky when he was done mauling the wild Pokémon!