With head of security ARCHIE COOK on PTO for two weeks, Gym Trainers had to work security to fill the gaps -- a role they were not fully trained on. There had been a break-in while DUNCAN HILL was on shift, and his Pokémon were not ready for the intruder's ghost-type threats. While his Pokémon were able to prevent them from breaching the main office, the Operations Center had been broken into, and with it, records that Josh had come into possession of all three of the paradox Pokémon resembling the Johto Beasts. While the paperwork was present on the upper floor, it had been scattered about. Residue from TACHYON CUTTER was visible, as well, a sign that Sigmund was able to repel the invader.

Concerned that his war plan might be significantly compromised, he needed to step up security at his Gym. Again. The Gym Leader, astride his Manectric and with his Type: Null to one side, took his one good hand off the reins long enough to wave toward Lydia Magnusson . "Hey there! You're looking sharp," Josh greeted the soldier, a saddled Salamence lazily curled up near one of the Gym's scoreboards. "Lydia, is it? Thanks for the help. Now let's rout these ghosts and apprehend the trainer behind this." While his left arm was no longer in a splint, it was still in heavy wrappings while the adhesive connecting bone fragments fully hardened.

The way Lydia walked was disciplined, and to Josh, almost robotic. Her Lycanroc seemed incredibly well-behaved, too, not so much as shaking or flinching as the female soldier mounted up. The two canines were off at a pace that Lydia dictated, the Gym Leader not wanting to discomfort her with breakneck speed. The wind was also a factor: if they went too fast, they wouldn't be able to hear one another. "You work with HBIC, right? Then I can share this with you. It's a bit sensitive, so let's move away from the fence."

Once they were toward the center of the property, far away from fences where one could eavesdrop, Josh speculated on what the motive might be. "It's where I've kept a very special few Poké Balls when I'm away from the Gym," he answered, about to refer to his Raging Bolt, Gouging Fire, and Walking Wake. "Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, in their Hoennian forms. That and the Rainbow Feather that houses Swift, my Johtonian Raikou."

Was possessing a legendary Pokémon more of a blessing or a curse? These sorts of incidents skyrocketed after the knowledge had been public. "No one but my Gym managers should have known. Feels like an inside job to me. At least part of it."

Lydia, of course, was under no obligation to answer. Perhaps revealing her identity would endanger other agents. He simply let the inquiry go and listen to the soldier's questions. Upon understanding where the confusion might be coming from, Josh pulled up pictures of his Paradox Beasts on his phone: Raikou the Raging Bolt, Entei the Gouging Fire, and Suicune the Walking Wake. They were all stern-looking and prideful. "These three Pokémon."

It was well possible that a Rocket, or someone else unscrupulous, had caught word of him racing Swift in the most remote corners of Hoenn. Ever Grande was not the largest island to train with a Beast of speed; he wanted a more wide-open, or at least long, trail he could practice with the Beast's speed at. Of course, with him in his injured state, there was little he could do to train with Swift now. "Yes, the Rainbow Feather is the Raikou's vessel."

"As is well-known, Mauville Gym specializes in ride Pokémon," Josh brought to Lydia's attention. "There are very few ghost-type ride Pokémon out there--" When Lydia brought it to Josh's attention that she didn't work for HBIC, he set the Manectric's reins down and covered his mouth.

Perhaps he indeed was a bit too loose-lipped.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I thought you did!" Josh apologized. "What division do you work for, again? You don't have to say if you don't want to."

Josh frowned, even grumbled, at the paradoxes being called monsters. "They're no different from Linoone. Look how drastically different a Linoone from Hoenn and a Linoone from Galar look," he argued. "Yet they're the same species. It is as these two are," Josh referred to the relationship between Walking Wake and Suicune.

Josh had heard of Jansen Security before; it was one of the firms he had contacted after dorian westcliff 's attack on his Gym. He had tried to talk them into servicing his Gym on a budget he could manage, but was ultimately unsuccessful. "Thank you for being forthcoming," he apologized with a still-thumping heart, sweat dripping down his face. "Anyway, ever since word got out of my little Ultra Megalopolan prison escape, there's been a... lot more attention on Mauville Gym. And not the kind of attention I wanted."

Sighing, he gestured toward the Operations Center on the distant north side of the property. "I think I would... be more comfortable to have the investigation handled by a third party. I haven't been... too pleased with the League's competence of late. Are you in?" Provided Lydia agreed, he would lead the soldier toward the building where the attacks took place.

"That's where you're wrong," Josh argued. "There are absolutely more than one. Suicune died in the war. We know this because of the late kyle lopez 's ashen construct. Yet Isaac Merlo is Suicune's Avatar. They may be rare, but they're far from unique." As were their Hoennian counterparts. They resembled and sounded like the Beasts. In his mind, they were the Beasts, just in different forms. And until Science presented him with a theory backed by solid evidence, that wasn't changing.

Josh nodded, shivering as the memories of being beaten by OKIDOGI flooded his mind. "That's... correct," he answered. "It's because of Raikou. A Johtonian Raikou. I wanted to keep him a secret as long as possible. But circumstances there forced my hand. Forced me to use him in battle. So now Hoenn knows that the Raikou and I are best friends." He held the RAINBOW FEATHER's quill in his right hand, ash dripping from its point as he pondered calling forth the monochrome legendary Pokémon.

The mention of distrust made Josh's mood sour. "Oh, I'm more than familiar with that adage," the Champion heaved, having dealt with several of his superiors that had a very clear trust issue they seemed unwilling to address. "One of the worst feelings in the world is discovering that a long-time friend isn't who you thought they were."

Josh's expression quickly turned sour at the notion that Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, in their new forms, were not meant to even exist. That there were so many of them was a bit jarring; just from what he had seen, he knew about Shred 's trio, zachary stellar 's Broly, and countless others that came into possession of the Beasts in their strange visages. Even Navy was confident that these new forms were ancestors of the Beasts that Josh adored.

There were several rare electric cats on Josh's property, and every single one of them was precious to him. And he loved them all. "Even if they aren't meant to be here, they are now," Josh huffed, his passion for the big tiger spilling over. Even if one was a dinosaur-tiger.

Recalling the awful events of the Megalopolan prison, Josh shared more of his story with Lydia. "I was in the Weak ward. That ogre dog was my warden, and he's part of the reason I'm...unable to take on challengers as I once could." While not swollen to the point of grotesqueness, his left arm was still significantly larger than his right, and it was still painful to put pressure on. Sitting in the saddle of any Pokémon other than a psychic-type was ill-advised. While he did have a few, they were few and far between... and Tyrfing the Iron Boulder was far too fast for Josh to control in his weakened state. "I could have sworn he popped my kneecap open with how hard he swung his Toxic Chain. And that ogress, too. That Pokémon stoking Nihilego into a frenzy is how my arm got messed up in the first place."

Once the two had reached the building's main entrance, Josh closed the double doors behind him and began to draw the Sign's four strokes. Electrified ash hung in the air, the static burst blowing out a nearby window as the ashen Swift materialized. His monochrome gaze was just as menacing as a that of real legendary Pokémon.

"Oops..." Josh trailed off in embarrassment.

A soft spot Lydia hit, indeed. Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, his Raging Bolt, Gouging Fire, and Walking Wake, were all precious to him. Even if they weren't quite as swift as their Johtonian counterparts, they were still tremendously fast, and were just as precious to him. If anything, Entei was more precious to him than the more familiar modern Pokémon. With the speed the Gouging Fire could reach, those yellow horns were capable of inflicting unfathomable harm. "Consider this: what makes a legendary Pokémon legendary? Uniqueness isn't it; a lot of Pokémon that show up in legends like that, there are more than one of. Look at Glastrier and Spectrier," he argued. "They show up all over Galarian legends, but are in the hands of a number of trainers. Even mine."

Josh shook his head, pondering Lydia's words and what he remembered of the awful experience behind bars. "I think everyone was sorted properly," was all he said. "I don't remember anything glaringly wrong. But I'd rather forget about as much of that as I can. I wanted to keep Swift, my Raikou, a secret for longer. But circumstances in that prison forced my hand."

The ashen Beast's emotions and demeanor mirrored Josh's, as though he was an extension of the racer's subconscious. When his surface thoughts and his inner self were in sync, so were Josh and Swift. Only when those two levels of his mind disagreed would Beast and rider clash. "Other than the three Pokémon I talked about before, yes," he answered, Swift's purr sounding like rumbles of thunder. Were Lydia to remain in contact with the Raikou's crown, it may have felt like a massage chair turned up to a high setting, or the feeling one would get operating a jackhammer. It was among the most powerful purrs any Pokémon could create. "But even if stolen, the feather's useless to them without knowing the Sign."