"Too long," Josh sighed. Why wasn't she more enthusiastic? They were best buddies, the tag team that kept Mauville going! "Something on your mind?" he asked, picking up on the Captain's gloominess. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to." Regardless of her response, the two would get going to wander Mauville's street level, filled with street lights and the asphalt firmament composing the skyways above. "Your Rapidash is impressive," Josh mused after seeing the two work together in a Psychic-powered leap.

"It's... not well understood," Josh sighed again. "It's also a huge problem for Mauville." He flashed his Dynamax Band toward the Captain. "You need one of these to do it at all." While that wasn't entirely true, the one incident where he had seen it in action was... not one he wanted to talk about. He had to, though. When the time was right. "I did a pretty lengthy field study with lam logan , Lilycove's Gym Leader, at the Racing Grounds. The long and short of it is Dynamax trades mobility for extreme strength and durability. Dynamax Pokémon can't move at all... which makes sense. They're the size of skyscrapers."

"...That would do it," Josh nodded in agreement. "Sometimes, juggling Ranger and Gym Leader duties leaves me exhausted too, given that I have leadership roles in both programs." Like all the times he had to cover for Annalise while she was in Rocket jail. "At least I'll be able to start getting actually paid for working tickets soon. Only a couple hundred community service hours to go, and I'll finally be free of that horrible burden." Even after his time and punishment had been completed, the true punishment would be living with the reality that he had nearly taken the life of a child.

Once they were both on their Pokémon steeds, Josh guided Mystic around to survey Mauville, riding as fast as the municipal speed limit would allow. "It's not just that, either. It's dangerous for the Pokémon, too. Mystic's partner, Rime, my Alolan Ninetales, passed away after she Dynamaxed last December. I'm not convinced it's safe." Mystic slowed down without being commanded to do so, the Kantonian Ninetales' thoughts drifting toward her friend whose heart was swallowed by Eternatus.

"I didn't beat a single one in the entire tournament. And I played in all 24 rounds of the main tournament and loads of side events," Josh reported his performance, though Annalise may have been aware of it already if she was present at the awards ceremony that Thundurus crashed. "We didn't come up with anything in the first day of tests, but I've invited him back to the Gym to do some more testing later. The more we know about how Dynamax works, the better prepared we'll be. What we need to do is figure out where Mauville's most vulnerable points are and make sure Pokémon can be deployed to them quickly. Remember, this is the most densely populated city in Hoenn." And a city with quite the vulnerable elderly population, too. "Those Max moves are something else, too. They're unlike anything I've ever seen. Even from legendary Pokémon."

Annalise condolences did not go unnoticed. "Thank you. It's been hard on me, but it's been even harder on Mystic, my Kantonian Ninetales. Those two were best friends." Josh himself also loved the bouncy gallop of the ice fox, as well as her extreme agility. She could twist and twirl like a professional figure skater, and was his preferred steed for icy locals such as Shoal Cave and the Silent Icelands.

And now, she was gone.

The two Rangers quickly got down to business, Mystic shaking her head. "As it stands right now, yes and yes. Which is a massive problem. The Power Spot, like I said, is in the town square in the center of Mauville, and I can use it from Mauville Gym, which is technically outside city limits. The nearby Power Spot in New Mauville complicates things a lot. I don't think it quite reaches Slateport, but... yeah. It's... an issue."

Josh's hair stood on end as he thought about the Toxtricity's G-Max move that left hom with a shock he wouldn't have been able to withstand without being so in-tune with electric Pokémon. "We might need to get Science involved. You called up Eva Morales yet? She might know more than we do about Power Spots. As much as I don't want to, it could be worth moving the one around the town square to the corner of my Gym's property... if that's even possible now that it's active."

"Even if it's just devices that monitor for spikes in Dynergy, that would let us mount an effective defense," Josh replied with a sniff. "Even if it means using Dynergy myself and risking the lives of my Pokémon... I'll do it for Mauville." An early warning system would be wonderful, but would Science have the time to develop it?

The Captain had a great point. Trying to move the Power Spot could have unintended, disastrous, city-leveling consequences. Only those on the top level of Mauville would have any hope of survival if there were an attack; such was the risk of a city with three urban grids stacked atop one another. He peered at the asphalt above him, pondering what such a disaster would look like, and shivered.

Josh reined his Ninetales toward the busy town square, full of pedestrians and Pokémon-mounted travelers. Several cameras flashed in the Gym Leader's presence, though they didn't bother him one bit. "There it is," he pointed to the glowing orb of red light hovering above the square: the only point where light touched the lower two tiers of Mauville City.

"Just enough room for a Dynamax Pokémon here. I think this is the only place in the entire city where a Pokémon can Dynamax. Of course, the use of Dynamax Bands within Mauville's city limits is against the law. That won't stop Rocket, though."

Ever the worrywart, Josh's mind drifted to doomsday scenarios and what to do if they were to occur. Dynamax Bands would eventually be tested by Science to the point where anyone could obtain one. While he didn't agree with them being that accessible, it was only a matter of time. Ultimately, it would work out well once security measures were in place.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Josh nodded in reply, the red light from the Power Spot making the town square look like the inside of a nightclub. "I'd like to find a way to restrict Dynamax from being used within the city entirely. I'd rather the Power Spot just not be here at all, but so far, no one's found a way to destroy or even move them. Like I said, we've got to trust Science to handle it."

The Gym Leader sighed deeply. "The only way we could even test that theory is to, as awful as it is, use a Dynamax Pokémon as an agent for a demolition project. Buildings that the city is looking to have removed anyway. I'll have to reach out to the mayor and see."

A daring but necessary plan; it would also give Josh an idea of just how much destruction merely Dynamaxing a Pokémon within the city would cause.

"For now, though, I think we should shift our focus to Mauville Hills. It's the most densely populated part of the city, and the most likely target for a Dynamax attack."

Josh smiled at the Captain's suggestion. "Coincidentally, I have a Skarmory that's perfect for the task," he answered. "Would be a good idea to get her used to it, as I'm planning on using it if there's a reasonably safe Power Spot at League headquarters. I'm sure there is." Little did he know how integral the Dynamax Phenomenon would be in his battle against the Great One.

Evacuating Mauville was a gargantuan task; the city being small in terms of acreage made it arguably harder to get its large population to safety quickly. It was not dissimilar to trying to evacuate a place like Castelia. "I do," Josh answered. "That's what my pride is for, and why they're on loan to the Rangers when needed. We've got an eleventh on the way; Nala's pregnant with Nuka, and is expecting next month. Really looking forward to it."

Josh had experience in large-scale disaster relief. Heading the field operation shortly after Meteno, when Laurence Anderson was Head Ranger, was how he got his blue uniform in the first place. "Remember Hurricane Yellen that crashed into Ever Grande the December before last?"