Some of Josh's favorite volunteer work to do while he was serving his sentence for the Eris incident was long-haul deliveries. It was an excuse to saddle up and take in Hoenn's surroundings, watch the region's wildlife in its natural element, and feel the wind in his face. Such a simple task was an excuse to get some of his Gym's newest recruits in the field... and one he had not been able to see in over a year.

King Zing.

His year-long rehabilitation with the League had transformed the giant Beedrill from the cold-blooded assassin that nearly took Eris' life into a well-behaved Pokémon much like the rest of his squad. The giant insect wore his saddle proudly, watching Josh load the remaining baskets onto his other Pokémon. Xia the Zangoose and Ghalta the Tyrantrum were among the ones Josh filled with the cargo.

"And this is why I said to bring headphones, Robin," Josh smiled as he cuddled the now-placid insect's face. "Welcome back, King Zing."

"Long as none of them are Seviper eggs, Xia will behave," Josh replied. "Isn't that right?" he turned his attention toward the Zangoose on all fours, cuddling the Pokémon's face before loading one of the baskets onto her. Her long claws gave her incredible traction at the cost of sapping her stamina. With how distant Fortree was, the Gym Leader had brought an entire backup team of Pokémon for when the normal-type's swift legs couldn't carry her anymore.

As soon as both his Pokémon were loaded up, Josh gently pat the side of his Beedrill's face, right behind his mandibles. The Champion took a seat on the giant, yellow wasp's back. "Tiamat, my Dragonite, is usually who I bring for high speed deliveries. She's fast and stable, even in Extreme Speed. I just wanted to bring some Pokémon that don't leave the Gym very often. Let them see the world for a change."

Once Robin had given her piece, Josh popped his ear protection in, then flicked King Zing's reins. A tingling sensation shot up his body as his mount's wings began to vibrate loudly. Once they were in the air, the bug-type tilted his wings to direct their thrust forward instead of upward, his ground Pokémon following the bobbing insect. Whew! Even once they got in the air, that thrumming and shaking would take getting used to!

Xia and Ghalta kept pace with the thrumming wasp, Josh's toes falling asleep during the flight to Fortree. "Whoo!" he cried as he reined his poison-type mount out of the way of a large tree limb, the Pokémon bobbing and weaving out of the way almost instantly. King Zing was far from the fastest of Josh's flying Pokémon, but he could put on some real zip.

With Josh's squeeze to the insect's sides, the drone became louder and higher-pitched as its source worked his wings faster. The tingling sensation worked its way almost all the way up his legs as Fortree's skyline came into sight. Overtaking Robin's Hydreigon, Josh encouraged King Zing to start zipping back and forth. putting the bug-type's great agility on display. Robin may have been able to hear a whoop come from Josh's mouth; he seemed like he was having a great time piloting the vicious-looking insect!

King Zing wasn't as agile as others of his kind, but he more than made it up with some of the most terrifying speed a bug Pokémon could achieve. The stabbing force behind a fly-by sting might hurt more than the venom to follow, were he to do so on offense. The wasp might be a good tool to use in the invasion... if he didn't have a lot of paradox Pokémon lined up to fight alongside Swift.

King Zing touched down near Robin, planting his foreleg stings in the ground to nail the landing. Feeling slowly returned to the Gym Leader's limbs as the loud, droning noise ceased. What a ride! It was a lot of fun, but did it ever make his thighs twitch.

The Gym Leader popped out his earplugs and withdrew the yellow insect once enough feeling had returned for him to stand on his own. "It's perfect. Not too cold and not too warm. I can't stand Hoenn's summer months; I've thought about closing the Gym in July... or at least having some kind of weather policy. Kyurem may have been more than a blessing than a curse after all." He would rather the Silent Icelands not existed at all, but cooler temperatures were a nice benefit. "Comes from living in Johto for so long." He chuckled at the Ranger's last line. "Maybe we should... arrange for a lesson or two in Extreme Speed sometime," he teased, humming over which of his land Pokémon he would saddle up for the last mile of deliveries. Ghalta and Xia's seats were filled with eggs, but he had a whole half-belt of others to consider...

Josh, likewise, began unloading the eggs Xia was carrying. While some of Ghalta's were to be delivered here, others required Josh to travel to another location a little deeper into town. "Comes with having lived in Johto for twenty years. You see, in Goldenrod, we get everything. Hundred-degree days in summer, below-zero in winter." The lake south of Goldenrod deep-froze almost every winter, making skating over it during the coldest months commonplace. Goldenrod National Park was a great place to go sledding, too. He had a Starmie-shaped inflatable sled that he loved to go whirling down hills with as a child.

The mention of an Alolan Ninetales made a somber, blue expression appear on Josh's face. The Ninetales that gave her life unexpectedly, leading to the Gym Leader's apprehension of Dynamax, came to the forefront of his mind. "Rime..." he trailed off, completely ignoring Robin's other points. He even slowed his rate of work, the very mention of the ice fox leaving him preoccupied...

It indeed took the AROMATIC MIST to wake Josh from his trance. "Sorry..." he trailed off before speaking up again. "I just got to thinking about Rime again. You know the reports from early January about Dynamax Pokémon dying? Especially ones at those souped-up Power Spots? Not the artificial ones you see in Gyms and the like. Real ones." He would rather move the Power Spot out of Mauville completely, but a Dynergy explosion from a mishap would level much of the city's center.

He hated Dynamax. Using it was risky, but doing away with it was even riskier. To Josh, it was like nuclear waste. Nothing good came from it, but there was no way to safely dispose of it.

"...Rime, my Alolan Ninetales, was one of the Pokémon that died that day." It was only the Sinistea's mist that kept Josh from spiraling downward again.

Josh, while he looked solemn, didn't look as depressed as one would be for losing a close Pokémon. "It's not just Rime. I saw wild Pokémon use the Power Spot and die, too. We're still trying to understand how it works and why those Pokémon died. Haven't heard a peep out of Science yet," the Champion explained.

As Josh packed up and prepared for the return trip, he gave lunch a thought. "I try to make them happy. It's a project raising so many, and I've had to hire a small team to take care of them all. But it's so rewarding. And honestly, Mystic, Rime's brother, took it a lot harder than I did."

After dropping off their last delivery, Josh voiced his thoughts. "I can tell you more of the story over lunch, if you'd like. There's this wonderful sports bar on the west side of Fortree, called the Beautifly and Dustox. Used to go here frequently when I was stationed out of Fortree in the Rangers. You like Unovan cuisine and you like watching baseball, you'll be right at home. What say you?"