Dewford's streets, skies, and shores were filled with the Mauville Leader's Pokémon. It was all hands on deck; every single one of them was out and about, Josh closing his Gym for several days at Navy 's request for help. He wouldn't turn down the man that helped him get out of his rut and turn his life around. Dozens of Pokémon, their saddles bearing the Mauville Ranger logo, ferried construction equipment and workers around the city to help with the reconstruction.

Forbidden from flying at his doctor's behest, Josh arrived at Dewford Island after many of his Pokémon did, Genbu the Blastoise gently ferrying him toward the Sheriff and now Warrior. As he arrived on the beach, he switched rides to the crouching Ixion, his Shiny Rapidash. His short-sleeved shirt left his left arm's wrappings largely exposed. Keeping his Pokémon to a canter, Josh approached the standing Elite Four member, slowing to a stop when he was near him.

"Navy! Glad to be able to see you again after... well..." Josh trailed off, his eyes shifting toward his recovering arm and the RAINBOW FEATHER pinned to his shirt gleaming brightly in the sunlight.

The light tap on the Gym Leader's bad shoulder made him flinch, but not wince like it would have last month. It hurt him that Dewford had to see the Champion and Knight of Thunder like this.

Sliding down from Ixion's back was something he was so happy he could do on his own accord, rather than having one of his psychic Pokémon levitate him on and off like one would take a child in and out of a car seat. "Well... we haven't really had a chance to," Josh nodded as he plucked the feather from his shirt. "Between my rehab and what went down in the desert, I've had horrible trials of my own to deal with... but nothing like the agony of what happened during the prison break."

Bladestorm's screech could be heard overhead as the Skarmory ferried a construction worker to another priority job. Once he was done, he flew toward Josh and landed near where Ixion was relaxing. "Bladestorm, you're doing a superb job out there," he complimented, giving the Skarmory a gentle pat. "You deserve a break." With a metallic clang of his beak. the steel-type found a nearby place to roost.

"That's what the League's medical team has ordered me to do for so long, too. And I've still got a couple more months of rehab. I've had to greatly reduce capacity at my Gym; we're essentially battle challenges only at this point."

Though he did not shed a tear, Navy may have been able to tell the internal strife bubbling up within Josh. The speedster was never good at hiding his emotions, particularly when they were laced with metaphorical high voltage.

He drew the first stroke of the Sign, electrified ash in a line perpendicular to the ground hanging in the air. "And Navy... this is the part that hurts most of all."

Bladestorm turned around to see the Skarmory chicks, clearly impressed with their larger kin's stature. Josh wondered what they thought of the saddle on his back. In their eyes, was it a mark of symbiosis, or subservience? As they and Navy reminisced, several of his dragons would pass by, including Alphamax the Garchomp. Excited that he was out and about, he helped ferry some of the heavier supplies about the city. It had been quite some time since he had seen action. Taking care of such a large herd was a lot of work; there were Pokémon he had failed to give proper attention to. He made a note to adventure with the Garchomp when he was feeling better.

After all, even if he had his favorite Pokémon in his possession, the Beast couldn't be a spotlight hog.

Josh finished drawing the Sign, its electrified ashes coalescing into the form of an ashen, monochrome Beast that he stood on the left side of and rest his hand on the side of his thundercloud.



"Navy, this is what hurts. The war's coming and I feel powerless to prepare for it. I want to sit on that thundercloud and train with Swift. It's not even about racing him. To be the Great One's Knight of Thunder means to raise your sword. But with my arm in the condition it's in, I couldn't even withstand a canter. I found that out in the RKS Simulation. At least we have a simulated environment to test that in without messing up my real arm, huh?" he joked, sensing Navy's desire to change the subject from his body language.

"Yeah, I'll do that. I've heard from the grapevine that Shalin Nariya 's transferring there from Rustboro. Would be a good opportunity to go up there."

"It's part of being a celebrity," Josh sighed. While having a large social circle was good in many aspects, it did not leave him a lot of time to be alone when he needed it. "She's... something else. My Sygna Suit just lets my Manectric and Pyroar be better at what they already do. Hers lets her do something completely new. How she doesn't turn to mush when she... I can't even describe what she does with that suit. Anyway, it blows my mind."

It was easy to forget about the small towns, especially one as remote as Dewford. Their role as a seafaring town was still as important as the roles of any other town in the region. "It's part of why I affiliated the Gym with Verdanturf Leather and Saddle," Josh added, "rather than a place in Mauville. It's the little guys that need help the most." Mauville Gym could have made Josh incredibly wealthy. Instead, he chose to invest his profits back into his business, his people, and ultimately his region. He could have chosen to live a life of luxury.

It was his selfless nature that kept Josh from doing so.

"Ho-oh did not," Josh answered. "Their last words before me were 'Don't fail me now, Knight of Thunder.' Nothing more. It was more a metaphorical knighting, but still a knighting all the same." Josh walked toward Swift's face and gave the ashen creature a hug, the Beast mirroring his love.

Josh had heard of many legends before, but the name was unfamiliar to him. "Zacian?" He asked. "I've never heard of that Pokémon before." Though he only knew much of the Sacred Swords and Johto's legendary Pokémon, he was familiar with many of them in passing. Kanto's bird trio, Hoenn's weather trio, Sinnoh's creation Pokémon... but not the Galarian heroes. "What are they like?" he asked.

Before he could get a response, Bladestorm swooped in to drop off a construction worker who was ready to take lunch, bringing them close to Josh and Navy. Josh's pride of Pyroar ferried several others to and from sandwich shops and the like; it seemed it was around that hour. "The Great One seemed to be speaking using Kyle as a vessel when the whole thing happened," Josh clarified, remembering the moment like it was yesterday. "It was Kyle speaking, but his voice was totally different. Did you ever get to watch the match back?" he asked. "The video's public now, since I was forced to make the big reveal in that Megalopolan prison. Now everyone knows that the Raikou has been passed on. So much for ambushing Rocket with him."

Josh thought about it. Was Ho-oh making him a Knight of Thunder a true knighting? "You're... right, aren't you?" he asked Navy. "If not, then you're Hoenn's second Knight. Though I wield no sword. Not until my arm's better. That's just another thing I've got to add to my list of things to practice once I'm out of rehab."

Having completed his tasks for the time being, Bladestorm obliged the Skarmory chicks, gliding near the nest before landing in it if there is room for him to do so. The Metal Menace was once an untamed apex predator that would scowl at even Josh if his bloodthirst was not satiated; now, he soared carefree through the skies, the blades of his wings resonating with a rider's joyous screams in a dive-bomb visitors to Josh's Gym would never forget.

Josh didn't remember too much of the encounter at the tomb; most of his memories of that day were of Galar. "I... don't remember that day too well. I just have really fond memories of what happened in Galar. I remember being one of Kyle's knights. Training with his Raikou -- now Swift, my Raikou. Becoming a valiant knight with a sword that felt like holding a lightning bolt. One hand on that blade and the other on the tiger's reins. Nothing could stop us. Not even Eternatus." It was one of the racer's finest moments: cleaving through Slowbro and Slowking in a blur of sparks, too fast for the eye to follow, with cuts so clean that their victims did not realize they were dead until their cleanly-cut flesh slid apart from itself. "I still have the hilt of that sword. It's... important to me. I wonder if there's a way to reforge it."

For a blade that moved at the speed of an ELECTRO BALL would be a mighty weapon befitting a knight, indeed.

"Navy, I've been finding since talking to the Great One... of the difference between a soldier and a knight. A fighter and a warrior or hero."

"A hero doesn't fight to conquer. A hero doesn't fight to destroy. You know what a hero does, Navy?" He let a moment pass to accept the blade the Warrior forged for him. It was exactly as he remembered it. Its hilt, the same color as the blues and purples of a Raikou's mane. Its blade, shaped like a lightning bolt, glowing yellow and dancing with electricity. He humbly took the hilt, static running through his entire body, briefly squinting as the electricity ran through his weak arm.

"A hero fights to protect. To protect their family. Their friends. Their region. And most importantly, the world. Rocket will fall. The DRK Triad will fall."

Waving for another of his Pokémon, Janus the Espeon arrived at his command, using his psychic energy to levitate Josh atop Swift's thundercloud. "I'm not planning on going anywhere with him. I just want to sit on his back and hold this sword, like I did in Galar. You must have been there, too... if you know about this sword." The Champion took great care not to put pressure on Swift's sides. Using his good arm, he slashed toward the sea, an ELECTRO BALL flying above the waves faster than even the strongest grass Pokémon's Bullet Seeds. "Does this make you...?"