A new expedition sounded fun. Much more fun than trying to take down a legendary...and something he didn't think about was the fact that Walrein was weak against electric types. Oh well, Walrein was pretty tough, and even had Hail and Rest. But that was a worry for another time! Kee's dad was riding on his Aerodactyle to fly across the field while Kee opted to use his Tyrantrum. Everyone else was either on carts being pulled by Pyroar or riding on the Pyroar themselves. Despite the pleas that they could use their own Pokemon to help, Josh was adament about the use of the pride. Probably to give them some major exercise. Beyond the two Torals and Josh, there were six other people that were Mr. Toral's regular diggers.

Keenan was bringing up the rear with Tyrantrum while Mr. Toral was up ahead leading the way. The sandstorm wasn't that bad yet, but the dig site was in a very rough place. The blond's dad made sure everyone had their goggles on along with some protective gear against the harshest of sandstorms. Tyrantrum seemed to be having fun just running through the desert. As they got deeper into it, the sandstorm was starting to get thicker and harsher. Eventually, they got to the dig site, some ruins jutting up from the sands, while it looked like there was an entrance way in the rocks. With Aerodactyl using Rock Slide to make a barrier that lowered the sandstorm's severity, he landed. "This is it! We can use another Rock Slide to help out with the storm, but let's get those Pyroar inside to rest and heal up. Then let's start making camp!" Keenan released Lucario to help out with unloading supplies. Mr. Toral unleashed Kabutops to check out the entrance and make sure it was safe.


Josh Devlin

It wasn't just to get the Pyroar exercise. The lions simply loved being active and helping; perhaps it was ingrained upon them as being Ranger Pokémon. Keeping them in shape helped, and rigging carts to their large saddles was simple enough that they were very adaptable for travel. "Don't mind Aleph keeping you company," Josh said as he leaned to make eye contact with Kee, his Type: Null in his peripheral. "It's where he usually--"

All of a sudden, a large sandstorm kicked up, forcing Josh to snap his helmet's visor into place to keep any more sand from collecting inside it. The Pyroar weren't so lucky; the desert's abrasive grains of sand became caught in their fur and even scratched against the soft flesh beneath. By the time they got to the dig site, almost half of the lions looked uncomfortable. "Remember, don't try to shake yourselves clean," he reminded them. "Once we're out of this storm, I can try to comb it out." With the size of the Pokémon, it would be a huge task, one he would almost certainly need help with.

The quick ROCK SLIDE stemmed the metaphorical bleeding, forming sturdy layers of boulders that would keep the vast majority of the sandstorm out of their faces. Josh and several of the other Rangers got to work dislodging sand from the pride's fur. "No stranger to this from all the times I've been to the Ultra Wilds," the Champion remarked.

---

Keenan Toral

{PC: 2}

NOTE: All of the Pyroar in Josh's PC, as well as his Raikou and Type: Null, are present.

Aleph didn't really cross Kee's mind. They were the rear guard. Anyone trying to hit them would be dumb as hell to attack from behind. Josh had to cut his pep talk short when the storm got worse. That was fine by him, he just wanted to focus on what was in front of him. Kee and Lucario stepped into the ruins, looking around. Mr. Toral and his Kabutops was feeding some Baltoy led by a Claydol. Making friends so they wouldn't be attacked. Setting the supplies down, Kee and his Pokemon went to unload some more. Aerodactyl went ahead and did another Rock Slide, damn near blocking the entire sandstorm. Tyrantrum just sat down near the entrance. She was too large to go inside, and didn't have the hands to be much help unloading supplies. But as a guard in case anyone or anything wanted to ambush them may just get intimidated to not even bother.

Once Keenan and the rest of the diggers had unloaded the supplies at the entrance way, including tents, the trainer went to help out with the Pyroar. Grabbing a comb and brush, he started assisting brushing out the sand from their fir. A little rough at first, the blond soon learned how to do it properly, the Pyroar giving an equivalent to a pur as he did it. The diggers, including Mr. Toral, got their equipment set up. They were ready to go! "Well, we're ready any time! But I don't know about the rest of you, but I think we should get started first thing tomorrow morning. Going through a sandstorm normally isn't fun, let alone a more severe one like that. Any objections?" His diggers didn't mind. Kee had sat down, wiping sweat from his forehead. He definitely didn't mind. Looking at the rangers, they awaited an answer, though both Torals doubted they'd object. More so since they still needed to help out a few more Pyroar with their fur.


Josh Devlin

The lions' motors running in sync with one another as the team cleaned their fur was music to Josh's ears. They seemed like they were warming up to the team quickly enough, Josh giving each one of them a hug when they were clean enough. Keeping a Pyroar's fur clean was a unique challenge, given their aversion to water. While the fire-types needed to hydrate some, just like any living organism, the threshold at which water became poisonous was much lower for them than Pokémon of other types.

With Kee's Aerodactyl and Tyranitar securing their makeshift camp around the pyramid of jagged, well-secured rocks, Josh nodded in agreement. "Exactly. There's no sense in going there like this. Let's rest up and tackle this in the morning." The Champion withdrew most of his Pokémon, only keeping Swift outside the RAINBOW FEATHER. It may have been heartwarming -- and perhaps even thought-provoking -- to Keenan Toral seeing a legendary Pokémon act much like a normal one would.

Gods some of them may have been, but even they still needed friends.

---

Keenan Toral

{PC: 3}

NOTE: All of the Pyroar in Josh's PC, as well as his Raikou and Type: Null, are present.

Kee was surprised to see some of the rangers using water to help with the Pyroar. Granted, a very minute amount. He half wondered if water was poison, but only in larger amounts, and certainly didn't want to be hit by an actual water type attack. Something to maybe ask later. The blond found it cute that Josh hugged each Pyroar before joining the rest of the group. Josh seemed to agree and returned most of his Pokemon. Just not Raikou. Which was still a little unsettling to see. Everyone else seemed to release at least one Pokemon, and settled into making sure they had everything they needed to cook food later. Keenan released his Shaymin, Whiscash, Houndoom, and Pawmot. All to get some fresh air. Shaymin immediately made its home between Houndoom's horns. Speaking of, Kee's ace stayed by his bunk, while Whiscash flopped to look around, and Lucario and Pawmot likewise looked around.

Some of the diggers started to drink a little already, sharing ghost stories. Mr. Toral joined them. Kee focused on getting sand out of his hair and...everywhere else he could without a bath. Josh was nearby. "So how long are we going to be exploring this place? Dad didn't say, and this dig site is pretty out of the way. Any idea on what we're expecting to find here?" He found it hard to believe that Rocket would even try to explore this place. Just seemed like remnents of a bygone era...nothing of any real note. But part of archeology was exploring the place and finding out.


Josh Devlin

Seeing how much Keenan's team improved made Josh proud of his decision to aware the trainer his Badge all that time ago. He was truly worthy of it, especially with Pokémon like those. "Aww, the Shaymin looks adorable between your Houndoom's horns like that!" he cooed as the rest of the crew seemed to get supper ready. A shoot or two of sand slipped through the Rock Slide from time to time, but it was nothing to be alarmed about.

"We did bring an awful lot of food, so I imagine we're here for quite a long haul," Josh speculated, having blocked off quite a bit of time from his Gym schedule and leaving challenges in the hands of his Gym Trainers in the event he was not able to return as scheduled. Tuning the dig team's ghost stories out, he instead turned his attention fully to Kee. "I'm not the one to ask; your dad and his team are only my clients. Try asking them."

---

Keenan Toral

{PC: 4}

NOTE: All of the Pyroar in Josh's PC, as well as his Raikou and Type: Null, are present.

"I know right! It's so precious!" The first time Kee saw it, he nearly died at the adorableness. Shaymin always liked making "nests" on top of people's heads, and he didn't know why. It was always so cute, though it was also somewhat annoying and worrying when it just speeds off to do it to some stranger. Shoot, he was lucky that Shaymin didn't startle Josh so much that he fell off his horse!

The gym leader mentioned the amount of supplies that they brought with them. Yeah, that was concerning. Much as he didn't mind these trips, he also wasn't the biggest of fans of them. This may take a while...and the blond really didn't like that. At the response about how long they were going to be here, the young man's shoulders slumped. "I don't need to. It's usually however long it takes to find something important or interesting." The ghost stories were more interesting than this. Kee was always excited about the journeys, but not so much at the end.

Maybe it was just the camping bit. Sitting down, Keenan spoke up again. "Anything interesting between Littleroot and this expedition? Do you have any gym trainers that can handle your challengers while you're gone?" Might as well do some small talk while they waited and relaxed. He didn't really have anything else to do. And he was too much of a scardy cat to join in on the ghost stories.



Josh Devlin

Josh knew of the species' tendencies; he had raised one before. He thought the species was adorable, as well, but it just wasn't in the cards for him to raise one. With his life revolving his Gym, he simply could not afford to raise a Pokémon unless it could wear a saddle or helped out with a very specific aspect of Gym maintenance. That was why his Shaymin was now being raised by Evette Moreau . "Fair," Josh conceded. "Better to have too much than not enough." Even so, they could survive in the wilds for a while on rations as numerous as they had.

Josh had quite a few stories to tell about his goings-on after Littleroot, and not all of them were happy. "The Gym's in good hands; it's part of why I have over 40 employees there now," the black-haired young man answered. "That way, the place can run for a little while without me being there." It was a lesson he learned the hard way in his first few months. Gym Leader were also Leaders. Part of leadership was delegating responsibility; trying to micro-manage the Gym on his own nearly led to him burning out early in his career. Now, Mauville Racing Grounds was a well-oiled machine that could run without his supervision for a time if need be.

---

Keenan Toral

{PC: 5}

NOTE: All of the Pyroar in Josh's PC, as well as his Raikou and Type: Null, are present.

Mr. Toral always made sure they had a lot, just in case something took a while or setbacks happened. Keenan wasn't always that same way. But he was managing. Josh seemed to be in good spirits about the gym. Number of employees didn't necessairly mean anything, just so long as there was at least a few that could handle the challenges. "Well, that's good." Josh didn't seem to have anything more to add. Well, a boring rest of the day it goes then. Until Mr. Toral asked the two of them join a quick card game before dinner.

One that Keenan lost every time at. Which meant he was on dish duty. That was fine with him. And Whiscash helped him out on that. The next morning, after breakfast, off they went. Keenan's dad led the way with Kabutops in the front. They had radios so they could talk to those still at camp. Keenan and his Houndoom and Shaymin were behind him. Looking around the halls as they went deeper in. They hadn't found any way down or up yet, so maybe this place was just a single level? Just as Keenan thought that, he stepped into a sandy patch and nearly went through, only caught by his dad and whoever was behind him. "Easy now, there's always these little sand traps around. Can't tell if there's a soft landing underneath or a way out of them."


Josh Devlin