Josh should have been happy; he had completed another critical stage of rehab. He could now safely ride his big cat Pokémon at a canter: the slowest speed where he could feel their powerful strides. To many, riding a big cat Pokémon at speed was painful. Their backs flexed with such force that it made many amateur riders saddle sore in a hurry. Not Josh. He had practiced with big cats for years, learning their rhythm and adapting to what they could do.

And now, for the first time in three months, he would be able to experience that joy again.

Just as Josh was waiting for the signal to change at a nearby intersection, he felt his Shiny Luxray's fur stand on end from a stranger bumping into him. The black-and-yellow cat began growling and snarling toward them. "It's okay, Blitz! It's okay!" Josh assured the horse-sized electric feline, gently patting his neck. "I'm sure she didn't mean any harm." He reined the Luxray around, seeing the young, apologetic girl. "We'll be okay. Blitz here's a tough one," he likewise assured her.

"Gym Leader Devlin or Champion Devlin, but please, call me Josh," the young man kindly returned the introduction with one of his own. "And this is Blitz," he gave the Luxray a gentle pat on the neck, which seemed to calm the big cat down. When not snarling, the Luxray was majestic... and even a little cute with his grumpy face on!

Josh set Blitz's reins down and raised his hands in protest when Airi asked if there was anything she could do to make up to him. "No, it's okay, really! Accidents happen, and I'm not hurt at all," he replied. "What brings you to Mauville, if I may ask? Are you also a trainer?"

Josh extended his hand to reach toward Airi, but it may have been a bit awkward with the Champion sitting so high off the ground. A Ranger Nurse, huh? It seemed like he wasn't the only one who couldn't decide on a single career path. "That a noble profession. You see, I, too, do Ranger work on the side, though I'm more on the search-and-rescue side. If your Ranger work is out of Mauville, you might have seen quite a few Pyroar with saddles on them, stamped with the Ranger logo. All of those Pyroar are mine."

Without a word, Josh reined his Luxray in front of the two children, the big cat stepping between them and the Dusknoir that appeared to be confused. Her form and quick thinking impressed the young man. "You're quite knowledgeable, Airi. How long have you been a Ranger for?" he asked, the children remaining calm in the presence of a Kirlia that helped them stay that way, for it could sense their fear of the phantom that AIRI WATANABE had tried to befriend.

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD BEWEAR APPEARED!

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] MALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] KLUTZ
[attr="class","wildtabox"]BIDE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]HAMMER ARM
[attr="class","wildtabox"]BABY DOLL EYES	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]PAIN SPLIT
[attr="class","wildtabox"] ---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]AIRI WATANABE Josh Devlin

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD UNFEZANT APPEARED!

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] FEMALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] SUPER LUCK
[attr="class","wildtabox"]LEER	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]FEATHER DANCE
[attr="class","wildtabox"]GUST	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]ROOST
[attr="class","wildtabox"] ---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]AIRI WATANABE Josh Devlin

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

AIRI WATANABE CAUGHT THE DUSKNOIR!

Josh whistled upon hearing Airi's tenure. "I'll be two years next month," he related his own length of employment. "And no problem at all. I get riders of all ages and skill levels at Mauville Gym. I've got a Furret named Wiley that's especially good with kids. He's got a U-Turn that keeps even me sharp, though; riding him isn't easy!" For those who hadn't seen Wiley, it could have been hard to believe a Furret that grew big enough for a human to ride, even if they leaned low enough on it to reduce their effective height.

"Due to the nature of Mauville Gym, business is seasonal," Josh explained as he saw an Unfezant take off from its nest, teaching the Pidove hatchlings how to fly. "Since Kyurem took a dump on Hoenn's climate, we've had more extreme weather instead of a usual tropical climate. The Gym's only really busy in the spring and fall; in the winter, it gets cold enough that I have to close the water courses, and in the summer, I have to limit hours because of how hot it gets. It's definitely eaten into profits." Mauville Racing Grounds may have received public funding by virtue of being a Gym, but it was also an independently-registered business. As such, he enjoyed profits that started to take him up the rungs of the upper class. He could make more money per hour at his business than doing Ranger work. Why did he continue to do Ranger work, then?

He enjoyed it. He had a passion for it. And he wanted to, most importantly, save lives.

"I became a Gym Leader the September before last. Mauville Racing Grounds is actually Mauville City's largest small business; we have around 40 employees." There had been rumors of an IPO floating around Column Street for quite some time, though Josh vehemently denied those claims. Being a small business, he preferred to answer to his employees and customers over anything else. An IPO would mean answering to shareholders.

It was rare for Gym Leaders to have the passion that Josh did. He had put a lot of work into making his Gym challenging, yet approachable, on both the combat side and the racing side. "If I had to pick between being a Gym Leader and being a Ranger, I'd give up Ranging in a heartbeat," was his answer. While not explicit, it was clear from his statement that he loved his job. "Some weekend when the weather's nice, you could consider dropping by. Might be a good way to meet all the Pyroar the Mauville Rangers use... and of course, Wiley."

There was also all the behind-the-scenes things that needed to be done. All the red-tape tasks needed to maintain Gym Leader credentials. Human Resources. General administrative work. Mauville Gym employed close to 50 people, after all!

"Honestly, running a Gym is like running a business," Josh explained. Though it wasn't exactly the same, and nowhere near as difficult thanks to receiving generous city and regional subsidies, there were a lot of parallels in the tasks. "Hoenn's Gyms are so busy that you can't run them by yourself. It feels like we're almost always hiring temps every Spring and Fall. I'd really love for Kyurem to buzz off and stop messing with Hoenn's weather any time," he huffed, raising his voice without even thinking about it. "As to that... boy do I have a tale for you."