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

"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

Well, that was good. Guy sounded like a major menace in the kitchen. As bad as his own clumsiness could be, he wasn't that bad. Moving on, Shin mentioned that the braille sticker thing was in the kitchen, in a drawer. Should be easy enough since it was so out of place in a setting. So off on a quest the blond went! Which was...unexciting. It was pretty easy to find thanks to Shin's pinpoint accuracy on where it was. And the fact that it was indeed very out of place for a kitchen. Grabbing it, he took it to his red headed beauty and watched with interest. It was a pretty unique device...

~

Mission objective complete! Without warning or anything, Shaymin ran around the room once then out the door and towards the boys. Shocking the blond throne as it slid past the door, then backtracked, and ran into the room. Running around it four times, avoiding Makuhita, Lucario, and Pawmot. And then stopping in front of both the red and yellow thrones, barking to let them know that it knew how the Riolu was getting up in the attic. Then darted out, leaving a Sweet Scent in its wake to lead them to the vent.



shinobu fujimori

Huh...guess Pokemon races were more dangerious than he thought. Wide eyes just kind of showed how ignorant he was. He really didn't want to know what kind of career ending stories Josh had. So for the moment, he focused on the battle at hand.

The hail did part of its duty, pelting the zooming flash, but the blur dove right into Walrein's side in a Quick Attack, not an electric type attack? "Yawn!" The water type's blubber may have softened the blow a little, and the hail absorbed and regenerated a little bit, but it still knocked the Walrein away. But it fired off a cloud of drowsy inducing fog at the cat as it was knocked over to the other side. With a quick touchdown of his front flippers, Walrein pivoted to face the direction that he was just attacked from. "Now use Blizzard!"

It was part of his personal strategy with Walrein, taking a queue from Aaron. The blubbery boy was tough, so he played into it with his Ice Body ability, Rest, Hail, and the powerful Blizzard and Surf attacks. And while Rest was in affect, Snore to continue fighting. But that mattered little against something that could one shot his Pokemon, and had the type advantage. Still, the storm got stronger and soon consumed the battlefield, being so much harder to dodge in Hail. Keenan could only hope to either freeze it or it got struck with Yawn.



Josh Devlin

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

Keenan jumped back at the rebuke, and gave Josh a glare. He was doing fine! And if thrust upon a situation, he would deal with it accordingly! Fear was a hell of a drug, but doesn't always make you a coward. A lot of times, it makes you move on. Fight. Continue running to a better position. Whatever. Fear was what motivated Keenan throughout his Requiem Badge experience. And his bleeding heart that later provided benefits. After a brief pep talk about how everything has a weakness, it was just finding it, Josh soon asked Keenan a question. Who shook his head no, though would eventually. Of course, he knew that Noah was Verdanturf's gym leader. But he didn't know that the guy boxed against his Pokemon! "Practicing racing is a bit different than literally boxing against your Pokemon..." There were a lot risks in doing that...right? Racing was a lot safer...wasn't it?

The Raikou took to the field, and he was told to use whatever tactics he deemed necessary. Well, he vaguely had a plan. The blond nodded, and threw out a Pokeball, revealing a Walrein, not unlike Blubby back home. They were mother and son. It may be strange throwing a water type, and a generally slow one, at an electric type. But there were a few reasons! When the battle begun, Kee was quick to start it. "Use Hail!" With a walrus roar, clouds darkened above the field, and hail stones started to litter the field, pelting at the legendary. But Walrein was also absorbing them, thanks to Ice Body, and constantly regenerating. Hopefully that would allow at least one hit...be it a Blizzard or a Yawn...



Josh Devlin

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

Luckily she stopped, and while he ignored her question, since he got up so fast and thus unharmed, was glad that she didn't have anything pressing to get done. Airi sat down in another chair, giggling about Shaymin's habit. The brunette seemed down until he spoke, seemingly perking up a little bit. Like she was doubting herself. She was a ranger, a hero! Nevertheless, she answered his question. By the discription...he didn't know it either. Still, the information was nice to have. "Thank you. I...I'm unfamiliar with a legendary of that discription. But maybe I can find out what it was when I have time." Not that he was an expert or a scholar or anything like that. He was a fairly typical twenty year old.

Sitting down in a small silence, Keenan didn't know what else to say. Not really anyways. Awkwardly, he started to ask her a few more questions. "Which city's rangers do you belong to? And have you been with them long?" He wasn't judging, they it may seem like that. He may have gotten better, but he was still a bit on the awkward side with new people. It was just how he was. Looking at Aaron, Kee half wondered what went through the young lad's mind when the legendary struck. Despite what it looked like, he was listening intently.

AIRI WATANABE

Keenan stopped by the gym after checking up on his team. He said was going to use the same one as he did with Greyson's gym, so he did exactly that. Granted, they were evolved and much stronger than before. His worry was his opening act...already weak to electric type, but still tough and hits like a truck...especially with their combination of Ice Body, Hail, Rest, and Snore while they were resting. Granbul had a good mix of melee attacks, including Outrage. Metagross would be the rist massive powerhouse. Vikavolt provided some trickery and special attacking mix. Steelix was just another beast altogether. Then his ace, his Mega Houndoom that Josh had fought previously.

As he strolled past one of the training grounds, Kee did stop to watching some black clothed blond train his Pokemon. Using gloves that sprayed paint when he touched them, and himself as the target. The blond slowly walked to the front as he watched in bewilderment, not knowing if that was plain insanity, clever, or just plain stupid. The guy was cute though, and seemed to know a thing or two about actual fighting and martial arts...probably why his Pokemon were having issues hitting him. Well, whatever, Keenan soon found Josh's battlefield. At the question, Kee grimaced. "Not especially...but we'll see what happens. By the way, is it normal for a trainer to actually physically train against their Pokemon? I saw I think one of the gym trainers having a sparring match against his Golisipod and Swampert..." Keenan had no idea why that was bothering him.

Team: Houndoom (Mega), Steelix, Vikavolt, Granbul, Metagross, Walrein.

Josh Devlin

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

"Very well, I'll also let my team know. Kee, you wanna go with?" It'd been a while since one of his boys had joined him. Though this one was riskier, Keenan did have two gym badges now. And Josh seemed to have some confidence in him too. Getting this done before the war started would be good, one less ruin to discover the secrets of...and maybe even one less site for Rocket to get a hold of. It was kind of nice that Josh's role wasn't simply as a warrior. He'd seen too many of those that were also a bit hard headed. He needed someone who also knew when to run.

Kee's voice was high pitched and squeeky. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'll use my same team as I did against Greyson's gym challenge. Though I should probably mention that it was also my first gym challenge ever. And that same team has gotten a lot stronger since." His ace, Houndoom, was a lot stronger now. Spheal was now a Walrein, Vikavolt was likewise much stronger, Metang was a Metagross, Onix a Steelix, and Granbul was also stronger now too. He actually intended to use Granbul against noah faber's gym one of these days. Man that first battle just seemed so long ago...


Josh Devlin

"That's what I'm afraid of. I don't want to take up personal when they're needed elsewhere, but if you insist. I can note that you recommended to take this trip sooner rather than later? Or if you're volunteering, I can make that note too?" If the guy was sure about taking that ticket, then might as well. Mr. Toral's dig team typically had six to eight people by themselves. Not even mentioning their Pokemon and any Rangers with them. Mrs. Toral worked from home in IT, so she wouldn't be there. Not that she was lonely, she had friends here, and she also had her Pokemon.

Josh was quick to let Keenan and the Torals know that that was what he had to figure out to become a Champion Ranked Trainer. But the best way to learn was by doing. That was something Kee's parents liked to tell him. Instruction first was fantastic, but some things just needed to be done to learn. The dark haired man, who still had Shaymin on top of his head, enthusiastically asked for a good day for Kee to swing by and spar with the Raikou. Even if it wasn't at full power, it was still a heck of a task. The poor boy was making an odd noise as his brain shor-circuited. Mrs. Toral took charge when that happened. "Why doesn't he take you up on that offer when the application is approved and they're on their way a little early to do it? It would be a good experience..."

Keenan couldn't answer. Just eyes wide and mouth agape.



Josh Devlin

Part of Josh's role was also transporting supplies and people to the front lines. Kee's reaction to the Raikou was to stare at it with wide eyes and mouth open with potato salad close to his mouth. What was more, to become a champion ranked trainer, the dark headed gym leader had to defeat both a Ho-oh AND an Entei! Just...what in the world did Aaron have to go through to achieve his goal? Both parents nodded, satisfied that Josh was well aware that legends were not all powerful. Though if anyone asked Keenan, he would disagree...you'd have to use an entire team of Pokemon to defeat just one. If the Torals could read Josh's mind, that would be their question as well.

"The dig site is in the deepest parts of the desert. My application is ready to be turned in to your Mauville Rangers, but I'm wondering if I should yet or just wait to see what happens in the next couple of weeks. I don't want to submit it, then something happening and the manpower is needed elsewhere." Much as he wanted to get to it, it was hardly imperative. If a disaster happens, those rangers would be needed elsewhere. Keenan had finally shoved his food in his mouth and ate slowly.

Josh then asked if he was okay. The youngest blond nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine...it's just...how do you deal with a legendary in a full blown battle? Greyson Connors's gym had me against a single one in a disaster scenario. I ended up running most of the time, just trying to help as much as I can until I had to fight it and ended up losing most of my team. If I hadn't poisoned it and also didn't have the help of everyone else, there was no way I would have beaten it! How do you take one on that's trained?!" His parents looked at each other. Had Keenan not been battling that much? Training was fantastic, yes, but actual battle experience was needed to be a good trainer was well. Was it...that Aaron was by far the better trainer?


Josh Devlin