Josh was a bit surprised to see Gwendolyn's choice of Pokémon. It wasn't a bad choice, but he thought she would use a fire Pokémon of some kind. "Is your Druddigon going to be cool enough?" he asked, unrecognizable by sight alone while wearing the bulky, white suit designed to create an airtight heat seal. "Because when we get close to the crater, it's going to get boiling. Literally boiling. We can't even bring water down there because it will boil away from within whatever we put it in."

Even if she couldn't enter the crater, the flying Druddigon would make a good scout. Only once the duo were in the air would the Champion respond to her. "You have no idea, Gwen. I wish I could tell you why. But I can't. League secret." They were good friends. It pained him to have to keep Raikou hidden from a fellow Ranger. Unfortunately, he couldn't share his possession of Raikou with anyone except League officials that were Ranger Captains and up.

"I just want to know what happened to him. How he died. Was it just the eruption? Or was it something far more sinister?" He already knew the answer to that question, too. "Anyway, we can split up; just try to turn around to keep an eye on the other from time to time. And let me handle searches lower to the ground if you can. I don't want you falling into the caldera. It may be solid, but there's magma not far underneath it. And your suit won't protect you against any amount of immersion in that."

Josh was not just in desperation mode, but in damage control mode, as well. His RAINBOW FEATHER was missing. He had found Resheph, his precious Dragonair, in a test tube and dying, if not already dead. In another derelict daycare a few blocks from the one where he had found Resheph's emaciated body, a far worse horror befell his eyes.

"...Raikou!!" Josh wept, seeing the Raging Bolt trapped inside the liquid-filled glass cage. While Resheph looked dead or nearly dead, the "Hoennian Raikou" looked well other than being unconscious. Perhaps even just asleep.

Before he could get too lost in his worries, ever blackwell had started shouting his name. The Champion turned around to see the Ranger he had worked hard to raise into a talent high in Hoenn's ranks. "...First Michael Davis , then Andrea Vaneau , and now you?" His heart sunk. How were they all in the same dream? And how many others had seen him and the Raging Bolt?

"Guess... guess the cat's out of the bag now," Josh replied, tilting his head down. "I caught Raikou."

High in the air and with a pair of binoculars in hand, Josh observed how Eddie handled the Eeveelutions' surveillance and the prowling Luxray's tireless search. A single squeak from one of the cart's wheels shifting at an odd angle mid-turn got the Cyclizar's attention, the Pokémon letting out a low moo. Using the scoreboard as cover made Josh smile; Eddie had realized how quickly he would be outnumbered if he were to take the shortest path head-on.

The spotlight slowly moved toward Eddie as he and Delilah followed the trail as stealthily as a Mudsdale could. With how massive the ground-type was, making noise was inevitable, garnering the Luxray's attention as it loosed a SHOCK WAVE upon the duo. Whether by fortune or planned by Eddie, the horse drew the electricity toward her body like a lightning rod, the crates, Pokémon, and rider completely intact and unharmed.

The gently rolling, grassy hills of Sector 1 awaited the courier-in-training next. With very few trees in sight and but a single river that ran along TWIST ROAD, there would be very little cover; confrontation would likely be unavoidable. Were Eddie to look toward the ground in the twilight, he would see frequent pawprints throughout the dirt and grass. Feline pawprints.

The pawprints would become more dense the closer he got to what appeared to be an unconscious Kantonian Raichu in a particularly flat part of the green expanse. Strangely, its tail did not glow with latent electricity; most of its bolt appeared to be charred black. What had happened to the poor thing, and who could have done that?

Not far from the Raichu was a sturdy bridge that appeared to be the only constructed, stable way across the river. With the Luxray and Cyclizar on high alert, returning to the Main Sector was likely a fool's errand. Crossing the river here, whether by bridge or otherwise, would lead to Sector 2, rife with aquatic channels for water Pokémon to hide in. If Eddie felt crossing here was too risky, he could follow the river and look for another crossing. Whatever those footprints belonged to was powerful, and the longer he stayed, the more he might feel like whatever those footprints belonged to was on the prowl...

The Inquisitor's suspicions began to grow. Suspicions that out of the child or the myconid, one of them was not being forthcoming. Was the child the monster? Or was this plant-creature the monster? There were too many uncertainties, too many doors closed thanks to the Gym Leader's hastiness. Hastiness that would need to be tempered if he wanted to be a Champion. "No doubt," he acknowledged. "There is little more heinous than the murder of a child. Even so, such acts against the village cannot be ignored."

Collecting his emotions and thoughts, Josh remained silent for a bit before continuing. "A trial by their peers. Evidence weighed against evidence. Whether found guilty or not guilty by their peers, justice will be served. Regardless of the outcome, justice is served. If they truly are not guilty, then it is just for them to go unpunished."

One last note from the mushroom left Josh with concern. "Ultimately, if the monster were to be found guilty, what punishment comes of said guilt is out of my hands. But I will do everything in my power to prevent loss of life."

By some miracle, the masked creature sailed wide of Josh as he was finishing his work. He wasn't sure how he could have made it otherwise; while his leg was no longer in stabbing pain from being slashed at by OKIDOGI's whipping TOXIC CHAIN, a dull pain was still there, its poison inhibiting and hindering his body's ability to heal.

Josh flashed a smile when he heard they were getting a shower, that smile taken away when the hypothermia-inducing waters, just above freezing, sapped what remained of Josh's strength. All of the blood spattered near Josh's upper leg and knee had been washed clean. All of the filth from his work in the mochi pit, gone. The only discolored skin that refused to be cleaned surrounded the cut on his leg, still red and purple with the TOXIC CHAIN's venom.

Unaided, it would not heal for the entire length of his sentence.

Josh was one of the last to respond to the OKIDOGI and MUNKIDORI's motion for them to leave the pit, and slowly, at that. Whether by mercy or by fortune, he had avoided punishment. He clattered his teeth as he stuttered about for the first few moments before at last making pace with the other prisoners. His feet were beginning to ache, too, not used to walking so much. As nice as it was to travel in the saddle everywhere, it came with the price of having relatively little on-foot endurance.

The sight of the pulsating tubes made Josh clatter his teeth again, not just because of the physical cold, but because of fear. As much as he wanted to talk to his fellow prisoners, he suspected he was already in trouble for his delay in leaving the mochi pit. Was this where the dead Pokémon were at? Were they fed to whatever was beneath here?

After returning to the ward, Josh dug in, eating at least his fair share. "Come on, Michael. I know it's not good for you, but you gotta eat," he urged his friend, somehow remaining in good spirits after all he had suffered through. His eyes shifting to the cot, it was barely big enough for one person. In any other scenario, Josh would have insisted he took the floor. Part of being a Champion was recognizing one's own limits... and the strengths of others. Stuffing his pride, he humbly accepted Michael's offer. "...That's very generous of you," he gratefully replied. "The Megalopolan presence and the looks of that hallway... I don't think we're in Hoenn anymore, if you ask me. Even if we could escape, where would we even go? For all we know, we could be stuck in Ultra Space with no way out." Falling asleep was a lot more difficult without his Raikou stuffie to cuddle, though eventually the tendrils of sleep took him.

He, too, awoke to a bright light -- and Michael Davis shaking him. Josh groaned, immediately able to feel his Ranger uniform. Was this a dream? If it was a dream, it had an uncanny level of reality to it. He unsteadily got to his feet as he listened to Michael yelling at the Megalopolan warden. "P-pardon my friend's tone," Josh stammered, trying to defuse and de-escalate them both. "Do you know where we've been taken? What are all those tubes, and what's beneath them?"

Once the guard departed, it would not take long for Josh to find one of his Pokémon... encased in glass filled with a fluid unlike anything he had ever seen. It was Resheph, his Dragonair - her white skin discolored in clearly unhealthy colors. Her blank eyes seemed stuck open, the serpent unresponsive. "...Resheph! Resheph!!" Josh cried, fruitlessly banging his fists against the glass. "Michael! Help me free her!"

There was still a glimmer of hope that kyle lopez was alive. After all, he had a bond with a Patron that could cheat death itself. Josh was aware of how the Emergent went, if MATIAS SILPH was to be believed: a PRECIPICE BLADE to a vital organ. If it was true, one of his best friends, the one whom Josh believed foresaw his death enough to bestow Raikou upon him, went almost instantly.

He had to know for sure, though.

Wearing a hot suit and standing next to several of his Pokémon adept at navigating hot climes, the Champion was ready to lead Gwendolyn Conway into, or above, the smoldering caldera in search of Kyle's remains. "I refuse to believe his body would disappear completely," Josh said over comms. "If you don't have a Pokémon for the terrain, you can borrow one of mine. But if he's out there somewhere, we've got to find him. Take his body back to the League. An autopsy will tell us everything." The Shiny Charizard Josh sat astride roared, as if reflecting his trainer's own internal frustration of the Top Champion's life being taken.

Once the family was gone, Josh was going to slide off Valoo's back when he heard Zachary calling out for him. He turned the Drampa to face the blue-haired trainer and waved back, hovering closer to his friend. "Oh, hey, Zachary!" he waved, Tiamat's shadow zooming past the two as the Dragonite flew high above the Gym grounds. The purr of a Pyroar might rattle Zachary if he let Rani touch him, Nuka the Litleo cutely eyeing the trainer.

"You said you're interested in becoming a Gym Leader?" Josh asked. "I know you said this once, but it sounds like you've given some serious thought to it." He slid down from Valoo's back and whistled for his Pyroar pride, Aslan their Shiny king leading the charge. All of them wore saddles bearing the Ranger insignia upon them. "You're not the first person I've trained to be a Gym Leader. Elise Calcifet 's castle, on the east side of Mauville, is a Minor League Gym. She learned everything she knew from me, and she's a great Leader."

The Gym Leader gently stroked Aslan's mane before taking a seat astride the golden lion. "Is that what you're here for, or are you here to challenge me?"

Josh's heart sank when he heard what happened to Meatloaf. "I... I almost tried to take one myself. I wouldn't have known what to do with myself if they killed Raikou... or worse yet, killed Swift. I'm so sorry for your loss. Perhaps I'm fortunate that the...big guy..." he referred to Okidogi, "he just whipped me above my knee."

Josh frowned. Swift would be a wonderful help, wouldn't he? There was just one problem with it: the RAINBOW FEATHER was missing. Making sure they were far away from any intersections where their voices may have been recorded, he lowered his voice to just above a whisper. "Believe me, I would. I've wanted you to meet Swift for what feels like forever now. There's just... a big problem with that. I haven't seen the Great One's Rainbow Feather since I woke up in that cell."

As Josh and King Zing approached Elodie, he clearly saw her calling out to him. Sitting so close to a great Beedrill's buzzing wings made it difficult to hear. He passed above her with an upward trajectory to make it obvious that the yellow insect wouldn't sting her. With a sudden swerve that made even Josh whoop, the nimble bug-type reversed course and landed, relaxing his wings.

It took some time for feeling to return to Josh's limbs, not used to flying on a creature whose entire body shook. "I'm sorry, come again?" he asked, removing his ear protection. Were Elodie to repeat herself, Josh would recognize the voice. "Oh, Elodie! From the tournament! Wasn't expecting to run into you out here."

As much as Josh didn't want to, Josh needed to have the conversation with the higher-ups. He couldn't remain silent forever, but he had promised Matias that he would be quiet about his knowledge of the Top Champion's killer's identity. The truth would come out eventually.
There was also a glimmer of hope. Kyle had proven to Josh several times that death was not as final of a concept with him as it would be to less fortunate souls. He had resurrected Nala and Rani, among other people and Pokémon. Could that be why the search had been thus far unsuccessful? It was hard to say; he doubted a Patron that had helped Raikou, Entei, and Suicune cheat death -- not the Hoennian versions of them Josh wielded -- the ones revered in his home region.

"It's been going on for years, and it won't stop any time soon," Josh sighed, Hylda turning up the cold blast surrounding her. Even Greyson may have been able to feel it, the Champion's surroundings like a cool fall day. "And that's why we have to keep fighting. Rocket will think that because Kyle fell, they have free reign to invade the mainland. Expand their territory. And that... I think that's why he trusted me with Swift." Swift, of course, being the name of the ashen Raikou.

Also clearing his mind of Kyle for the time being, Josh had Hylda pick up the pace some, encouraging Greyson and his Rapidash to keep up. "If you watch my match with Kyle back, you'll see the improvements. A lot's happened outside the circuit, too. When Sootopolis comes, I'll be ready. That and all the people who take the new Gym challenge I'm drawing up."

ELECTRO BALL was an attack Josh was all too familiar with. It was by far his favorite tactic in battle, leaning into the Champion's penchant for speed. The slower its target was, the harder it would hit. If Josh and Snacker raced toward it as fast as they could, the duo would feel but a tingle. "Faster, Snacker! AQUA JET!" he cried, the Mega Evolved shark opening his jaws wide to take in truly colossal amounts of water. Pushing it through the valve on its rear, the predatory Pokémon bounced atop the rough surf the Raichu was creating.

Just as he was about to close in, the psychic-type blinked away. Could the Pokémon teleport? Maybe he missed what the Raichu Ally Switched with. A little disappointed that the swift Pokémon got away, Josh guided the snark toward where Zachary was at rest on the shore.

"You say that, but those kinds of Pokémon make for the best mounts," Josh smiled back to him. "Snacker was like that when we first met: rebellious and cantankerous. And now, he's like riding on a thunderstorm." He sighed as he and the Mega Sharpedo bathed in Cetus' AQUA RING. "...I want to catch it."

Crash let out a friendly bark after Christopher was comfortably in his seat, the Boltund ready to listen to his guest's commands, whether through the reins or verbally. "That is one advantage to being out in the country like this," Josh replied. One would think that a race track would be located in a much more rural part of the region. That his Gym was located just outside Mauville was a coincidence, having been the most open Gym from where the Battle Tower and Minor League headquarters were located when kyle lopez was in charge of them.

Josh slid down from Milo's back, retrieving two Pokémon eggs from the back of his Manectric and leaving the third for Christopher to handle. After a knock, the store's manager opened the front door, looking thrilled to see the eggs. "Just need a signature here," he gestured toward a clipboard he procured. While all three were of particularly common Pokémon, the species they contained were all grass-types. Perhaps the little ones would be for the business?

Their first delivery complete, Josh climbed back atop Milo. "What's next on our list?" he asked.

Fenelle's reply warmed Josh's heart; this search was certainly a nice distraction from thinking about the late Kyle. He can't imagine what the Emergent's inner circle must be going through with him gone. Upon learning of the width of the floating debris field, he would reply to his partner:

I'll make a quick pass around here. Will let you know if I find anything. For now, I'll have my Feraligatr start ferrying the eggs we have to shore. His name's Dimitri. He's friendly as can be and won't bite, I promise.

Dimitri and Staccato helped load some of the Pokémon eggs onto each other, lazily swimming toward Slateport Beach. In the meantime, Ecco picked up the pace, the wake perhaps making the ice floes a bit difficult for der Fuecoco to stand on. His eyes shifted back and forth as he circled the floating wreckage at quite the clip, though still slow enough that he could keep an eye out for what he was looking for.

He provided Fenelle no update, though if they were to glance in the direction of the chattering Palafin, they would be able to see Hoenn's newest Champion hard at work. If the egg was in the nearby seas, they would find it.