The young girl was there, Josh subtly tensing up un her approach. Reiner's tension seemed to be high, his tail swaying back and forth rapidly. He remembered the promise he made to her in the dream world.

And he would make good on it.

"Good afternoon, Eris," Josh greeted her, not with sympathy, but not with apathy either. If what she said in the dream world was to be believed, this would be a perfect opportunity to show himself as not a monster, but as a true Champion. A selfless one. "You mind giving me the briefing so we can get out there and save some lives?" he asked, Kopala floating toward the shallows.

That was a lot easier than Josh thought it would be. It didn't seem like too dangerous of a job either, which was a relief. "Thanks," he answered, noticing Eris keeping her distance from Josh. "Sounds simple enough. Did you bring a water Pokémon? If you didn't, Kopala and my other water Pokémon can prioritize clearing the corridors farthest below the surface." Perhaps a divide and conquer approach would be best, even if the younger one did have a water Pokémon.

Regardless of how the two were to get to their destination, Josh would ask Eris from Kopala's back, "I saw you in a strange and surreal dream not long ago... and it all felt so real." Little did he know that such a memory had been erased from the child's mind...

"Got it!" Josh chirped back, grabbing two more of his Poké Balls. The Dragonair and Floatzel that emerged from them looked ready to dive. Josh, though, was distracted by the non-response. Did she not remember meeting him? Or was the only one that had that dream him?

He shook his head. He couldn't be distracted by ephemeral, even astral happenings. Clearing these blocked corridors would relieve water pressure and allow salvage teams that followed them to recover what they needed. Josh and Kopala dove to the sea bed, a large collapse completely blocking the entrance to an underwater cave. The Champion reached for Resheph's Poké Ball and clicked it open. All it took was seeing Josh's eyes and the pileup before her to know what to do.

The serpent glowed a purple-white before ramming into the pile of debris at EXTREME SPEEDS, Josh and Kopala buffeted backward from a current due to the water pressure difference. An entire school of Horsea and Seadra surrounded the dragon, Mantine, and trainer, clearly happy to be freed from the collapse.

With the Dragonair's job done, Josh had one more step: ensuring the school was healthy. The Gym Leader withdrew Kopala for Keiga, his Kingdra, and grabbed onto the dragon-type. Though some were not impressed and saw her as a rival, the vast majority of the Horsea were in awe at the Kingdra's presence... even if she looked a bit strange to them. They had never seen a saddle before, and many were too young to have seen a Kingdra before! After all, evolution beyond Seadra in the wild was quite rare.

If Eris was looking in the direction of the sea, she might see Josh and his Kingdra, as well as a part of the school of Horsea surfacing. He waved toward the girl, trying to get her attention to deliver a status update.

Eris' presumption that Josh did something he shouldn't have couldn't have been further from the truth; those Horsea were trapped within a cave that had been blocked by the wreckage. Without his help, they would have perished over time inside. After what felt like an eternity, she addressed Josh with a simple inquiry. After a deep breath, he would give his update, now that he had her attention.

"All these Horsea were trapped inside an underwater cave that got blocked off when a vessel crashed. Most of them are okay, but there a few lagging behind. Do you have a Pokémon that can patch any of them up? If not, I can make arrangements for other Rangers to take care of it. I'm going back down to seal the cave shut. Make sure nothing else can get trapped in there until the salvage team comes and does their work."

With that, Josh and his Kingdra submerged to the underwater floor once again. His two aquatic Dragon-types worked together in using more of the wreckage to create a seal around the cave entrance. While it wasn't a snug fit, any large Pokémon wouldn't be able to enter it, and even smaller Pokémon would have to be deliberate about it. If Eris needed assistance, she would be able to easily convince the Leader's Mantine to help out in any way possible.

The Gym Leader and his Kingdra surfaced not long after Eris had messaged Razz. "Yep, just about got it wrapped up. No more Horsea will get trapped down there; the cave they were trapped in is all sealed up," he reported. "If you've got things all wrapped up on this side, then how about we head back to Dewford? Maybe get supper together?"

With Resheph and Keiga having worked hard, Josh withdrew them, and would match Eris' pace with Kopala, his Mantine. "Eris, you were a really big help today. Thank you." That strange dream was on his mind the entire way back to dry land. Why didn't Eris remember it? It felt way too real to be just an ordinary dream.