Their survey was quite productive, indeed; while Josh would have to follow up and coordinate with Mauville's mayor to do all the Dynamax texting he wanted, they got a lot of valuable information for the League to comb through. Mauville would not fall to a Dynamax attack under his watch. They were his people. A city he had worked hard to cultivate from a military post to the sports hub it was now. A place where Hoenn could go to escape the war and become entranced by the thrill of competition.

With reflexes befitting the Master of Faster, Josh caught Annalise's pitch. He hopped off Mystic's back and clicked the device open, and the Beedrill within noisily buzzed about before opening his stings wide and embracing Josh, knocking him over. He let out a yelp as his finger became pinched between the wasp's exoskeleton and a buckle holding the saddle in place. "You weren't kidding when you said he's not aggressive anymore! Come on, King Zing, hold still!"

The Beedrill obeyed without question, Josh getting his finger from underneath the buckle and shaking his hand to try to quell the pain. That vibration hurt! "I'm just glad to have him back. He won't be hurting any more children any time soon, heh," he chuckled. "Did you get to fly on him at all?" he asked as the two stood outside the Ranger office.

Perhaps the reference to his murky past had gone over Annalise's head. "One day, you should! It's a lot of fun!" he tried to encourage her, though Josh doubted she would. It took a certain kind of person to want to fly on a Pokémon like that.

Once the two were behind Ranger HQ, as it had a small field connected to the city proper, Josh sat atop the yellow, flying insect's saddle. "Think I'll zip near the edge of town with him! Can't fly on him in town, what with noise ordinances. Thanks for all your help today!" Before he could say goodbye, King Zing churned his wings, but did not take off. The vibration tickled Josh, making him laugh.

Just before Josh's legs were to go numb from the shaking, King Zing leaped into the air, bobbing about above Mauville's outskirts and giving him a good look at the top level of the tri-layered municipality.

Getting used to vibration like this again was going to take work.