The approaching figure Fenelle saw was one of Hoenn's most recently-crowned Champions, Mauville Gym Leader Josh Devlin . Dressed in a blue, water-resistant uniform easily recognizable as Ranger garb, his Palafin steed sped across the waves. The Pokémon's snout was encased in a fist-shaped, aqueous form meant to mimic its Hero Form's JET PUNCH. Yanking on the dolphin's reins, Josh ordered a sharp turn from his partner, the Palafin kicking up quite the spray as he swerved, giving Fenelle a good look at just how big the Pokémon was for his species. Not a giant, but certainly substantially larger than the average one of his kind.

The Ranger's Pokémon extended his tail deeper into the water to act as a water brake, slowing down before reaching an unexpected guest. "Ahoy!" Josh cried toward the blue-haired individual before his eyes shifted toward the floating debris. "...Pokémon eggs?" he asked, curious.

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Oh well. There's several things to recognise about the approaching figure, the first maybe being a ranger, the second being Mauville's Gym Leader, the third being a League nuisance. Nonetheless, Fenelle stows away those feelings in favour of having the easy, genuine reaction to the larger-than-average Palafin that Josh rides.

(Also it seems like dee couldn't just up and away with those eggs then. Pity.)

Dee waves at the Gym Leader at the greeting that dee visually perceives, and then moves to quickly take out der phone to type. "Hi! I'm deaf, so I couldn't hear what you just said." Der Text-To-Speech module activates with the generic masculine voice, while Fenelle ponders how to communicate with the other further. However, in the meanwhile, dee notices that the other's been looking at the eggs, and points at them with a questioning look on der face. "I just found those eggs out here. I'm not sure if they should just ... float here?" dee continues typing on der phone to let the synthetic voice sound out.

The Lapras seems professionally undisturbed by the new arrival, whereas the Autism Gang both start displaying varying degrees of curiosity and reservedness, as well as just plain old social awkwardness. Fuecoco seems to be the most curious about the other two, jumping up and down on his ice float while Vanillite is making sure there'd always be an ice float.

Josh Devlin

Ecco hovered near the eggs, Josh spotting a message-in-a-bottle nestled among them. Popping the cork on it, he read the hastily-scribbled letter inside:

--

Crew of the S.S. Carina
Log 04XX2024, XX:XX HDT

We are done for. It's only a matter of time before Kyogre sinks our vessel to the sea floor. If you are reading this letter, heed our last request: deliver these eggs to their rightful owners in Slateport City.

(Below is a list of the Pokémon eggs with their recipients and addresses.)

--

The Ranger shed a tear for those on board the ship. He had never heard reports of skyler dross being unable to control Kyogre. Was this what happened to a legendary Pokémon that had become separated from its Avatar? It was disturbing. First, MATIAS SILPH and his out-of-control Patron. Then, Kyogre? This was one reason Josh was glad Swift seemed to be under his complete control... for now. Made out of Sacred Ash, the Raikou lacked a personality of his own, instead being a reflection of his bearer.

Hearing the text-to-speech, Josh would float as close to the deaf stranger as he could manage, typing out a message on his phone and showing it to them, requesting if they could exchange numbers for the duration of their impromptu mission. Provided they accepted, Josh would communicate to the traveler by text message. Regardless, he would show the letter to them and click open two more Poké Balls containing a stout-looking Primarina and Feraligatr. Both of them wore saddles on their backs as well. Provided they were familiar with the Gym Leader, it would have come as no surprise...

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Fenelle's eyes are locked on Josh's face as he reads the letter, and dee sees his facial expressions shift and change. Dee believes to recognise sadness, grief even, and worry - that letter must not bear good news, even if dee has a hard time picturing what exactly this means. As Josh approaches, dee leans forward to take the letter and read the message on his phone. There's one moment of hesitation (acting), before der right hand is raised to sign yes with der head nodding. Dee quickly pulls up the common messenger app, then the QR code to scan to add dem to contacts.

While Josh's adding dem, dee reads the letter with a fairly neutral expression, which is intercepted by a frown, and then a moment of upset disbelief - similiar to Josh's reaction, as Fenelle swallows the likely last letter of an entire crew, focused on at least seeing the eggs delivered as intended. There's also a hint of a more personal worry as dee then takes der phone and starts typing.

("Mille" instead is memorising it rationally - dee also makes notes of der current location, setting up a GPS pin on der phone while typing the message to Josh. This could be valuable intel about Kyogre's current state.)

Hello, I am Fenelle! That was ... very scary news. Do you think Kyogre is still around here? We should maybe try and deliver these eggs before anything can happen to them ...

Der gaze is turned upwards, too, wondering if there's any pokémon up above (or even down below) who'd like an easy snack.

Is any egg missing?

Dee cranes der neck, having another better look at the eggs and also spotting Fuecoco looking at the other new pokémon with wide eyes. (Yeah, from what dee knows, it's no surprise to see them already saddled as well.)

Josh Devlin

Josh would return the Rocket's message with a longer one, Ecco floating near Dimitri, the Feraligatr appearing somewhat on edge.

Champion Devlin, but I prefer Josh. The last reports I heard of Kyogre were in Lilycove some weeks ago. Could be anywhere in Hoenn. I can't imagine what a brutal way all those people on the ship went. Let's honor their final wishes and get these eggs delivered.

He counted the eggs, cross-referencing the address list provided in the letter. To his dismay, there was one missing. "Dimitri, see if you can find it nearby," Josh ordered. "I get the feeling we're not going to find it, though we have to at least try. It could be anywhere." Turning back toward Fenelle, Josh composed another text message to her.

There's one missing. An Inkay egg. Gonna forward you a picture of what we're looking for.

He would forward a copy of a stock image of an Inkay egg to Fenelle while his Feraligatr fruitlessly searched nearby, his wake perhaps upsetting the ice floes and making the surf a bit rough for Ecco and Fenelle's Pokémon.

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Fenelle starts wondering what Josh was typing, as the text message comes in again. Surprise is visible on der face, as dee hasn't kept up with the news completely - so a new champion, huh? (Dee should probably pick up watching the daily evening news again.) Immediately, der fingers would start typing a response,

Oh, congratulations, Josh!
And that's both ... reassuring and worrying. I really hope it won't be anywhere nearby here ... yeah, it's really.
Let's do our best so this all hasn't been in vain 😤😤

Dee glances at der pokémon while sending the messages - while actually cared for dearly, and stronger than they look like, there's no chance one braincell could survive against a Kyogre on a rampage.

However, the sea is calm for the moment, and Fenelle seems to relax, then worry again as Josh seems to notice something, commanding his other Feraligatr to search, if dee had to guess. The explanation comes in quickly.

Gotcha. I don't think I've seen anything like it while being out here- oh!
But there's this other mass of flotsam a bit farther away, maybe it got caught in there?

Now that dee thinks about it, there's been quite some amoutn of flotsam around here. But then, der attention is caught by Fuecoco getting dangerously close to falling into the water in the wake of the Feraligatr, alarming Vanillite. Careful! dee signs quickly, as the Vanillite does another Ice Beam, now freezing bigger parts. However, this wouldn't be sustainable and Fenelle leans down from der seat on the Lapras. Come up here, enough swimming. Fuecoco refuses, however, hoping from one stirred ice float to another, seeming to regard this all as a game.

Josh Devlin

Fenelle's reply warmed Josh's heart; this search was certainly a nice distraction from thinking about the late Kyle. He can't imagine what the Emergent's inner circle must be going through with him gone. Upon learning of the width of the floating debris field, he would reply to his partner:

I'll make a quick pass around here. Will let you know if I find anything. For now, I'll have my Feraligatr start ferrying the eggs we have to shore. His name's Dimitri. He's friendly as can be and won't bite, I promise.

Dimitri and Staccato helped load some of the Pokémon eggs onto each other, lazily swimming toward Slateport Beach. In the meantime, Ecco picked up the pace, the wake perhaps making the ice floes a bit difficult for der Fuecoco to stand on. His eyes shifted back and forth as he circled the floating wreckage at quite the clip, though still slow enough that he could keep an eye out for what he was looking for.

He provided Fenelle no update, though if they were to glance in the direction of the chattering Palafin, they would be able to see Hoenn's newest Champion hard at work. If the egg was in the nearby seas, they would find it.