The Gym Leader raised his right hand, giving Ghost a good look at the felt reins attached to the plush. They were even a realistic length. It was clear a lot of care and detail went into the one-of-a-kind plush, Josh having had it commissioned not long after the birthday he got to first ride Swift when the Beast was under Kyle's command. "Just Josh is fine! Champion is just a title, nothing more. You've always known me as just Josh. Nothing about that's going to change." Sure, he was one of Hoenn's greats now, but he was also a friend to the green-haired young man.

Josh's eyes began to tear up when Ghost asked him about using his Raikou to race challengers. "That's... the hardest part, Ghost. It's not that he can't or won't. It's that... I can't. My body won't let me right now. Did you read about how almost every high-profile figure in Hoenn went missing for two days?" he asked, referring to the events of the Prismatic Penitentiary. "I was one of the people captured there, and during the escape, my left arm was broken. Thanks to the marvels of modern medicine, the League was able to reconstruct my arm. I'm through a month and a half of rehab, but I'm still nowhere near full strength. They say I won't be until November. And it's depressing."

Upon being asked to show Swift, ashes dripped from the feather's quill, blown away from the Ride-On Raikou by the Gym's ventilation system. "If you want to saddle the Raikou with me, I would love to... when I'm feeling better. I'll mess up my arm if I go any faster than a trot. But if you just want to see him... then we can head downstairs."

TO: ghost fireheart (ghost.fireheart@hoennrangers.gov)
CC: Josh Devlin (josh.devlin@hoennleague.gov)
MISSION: "Draconic Dominance"
PROTOCOL: Dispersal
DANGER: ★★★★☆

Seismic activity from beneath Mount Chimney has caused the collapse of well-known habitats of Druddigon, Deino, and Jangmo-o deep within Meteor Falls. These Pokémon have migrated to the main cavern, rendering overland travel between Rustboro City and Fallarbor Town impossible. We need you to herd them away from the main cavern and reopen the road. While minimizing Pokémon casualties is always important as a Ranger, you are authorized to terminate particularly aggressive specimens at your discretion.

Your objectives are as follows:

a. Neutralize Druddigon pack leader
b. Neutralize Kommo-o pack leader
c. Neutralize Hydreigon pack leader
d. Secure main cavern travel route

Elite Ranger Josh Devlin will be overseeing this operation. If he is satisfied with your performance, he may recommend you for promotion to Senior Ranger.

Good luck! We're all counting on you.

Mauville's second-in-command to annalise henderson , Josh Devlin , led his protege, ghost fireheart , toward the eastern entrance of Meteor Falls. Even outside the cavern, there were signs of dangerous dragon Pokémon passing by. Large rocks crumbled to dust from the impact of vibrating fists, as well as wild Pokémon brutally killed from what could only be identified as the savage bites of a Hydreigon. If they could take out fully evolved Pokémon, then they could easily kill a human, too. He thought this mission would have been better served by a Elite Ranger, but he was not the one to make this decision; such a choice was ollie morales ', and hers alone. Josh was just one to follow directions and supervise.

From the saddle of his adorable Sylveon, Pinky, Josh rode alongside whatever Pokémon Ghost was aboard, if any; if he didn't bring one, he would have offered one of his Pyroar to the rising Ranger. "Need to go over the briefing again? Once we're in there, I won't be able to give you any help unless the mission, or our lives, are at risk." The RAINBOW FEATHER glinted brightly, pinned to his blue Ranger uniform. "Just remember, worst case scenario, Swift's got your back."

Administering a promotional exam for ghost fireheart!

As the severe uphill slope came, Josh yanked upward on Mastema's reins, the focused-looking Togekiss soaring as high as the course's bounds would allow. He kept one eye on the edge of the course and another on the Beedrill in the first place, trying to avoid being directly behind it. The wake currents produced by the wings of a wasp big enough to mount were tremendously disorienting, and one of the top reasons why passing one was so difficult. If their vibrations didn't bother Josh so much, then maybe he would be more apt to race with the insectile predator.

"Alright, Mastema, you ready to zoom?" Josh asked. With a nod from the graceful-looking fairy-type, he squeezed his mount's sides and took most of the pressure off his reins. The speedy Pokémon dove down the straight part of the course, the wind sounding like a freight train passing even with his helmet on.

He had warned Lutgarde that when there were Togekiss involved, there might be some sonic booms. Perhaps on boost laps, they would get to taste that experience themselves.

All five Pokémon picked up speed and altitude in anticipation of the huge drop before them. Much of the pressure would not be on the Pokémon that were built for speed, but for the trainers on their backs. Many of them would struggle to maintain control as their mounts' bodies shook from going far faster than their wings could normally carry them.

An explosion of loud vibrations echoed from the frontrunner BEEDRILL's wings, the unstable air in their wake making it difficult for ARAVAN ESCHER's NOIVERN and Lutgarde Dijkstra 's TOGEKISS to maintain control. While the challenger quickly corrected by angling their dive more sharply, they were forced to pull out of it sooner by virtue of running out of altitude, letting Josh Devlin and his TOGEKISS pass them easily.

ACE SHEEKE went for a much more daring move: he let all the racers pass him, gaining as much altitude as course bounds would allow. His AERODACTYL folded its wings in and shot toward the ground like a meteor, pulling out of the dive at the last moment. The crushing g-forces rocked him, earning a scream from him as he made up all the ground he gave back and then some. The rock-type whizzed past ARAVAN ESCHER and Lutgarde Dijkstra , narrowly taking second place from the Gym Leader. It was still a close race among the back four, ERON IUNIS having a firm handle on first place coming into the first lap's home stretch.

Prompt: After the sharpest turn on the course and a few more short drops much like the ones at the start of the course, a steep slope upward leading back to the starting arch was ahead. The grade of this slope was quite high, testing the stamina of the Pokémon that flew up it as well as the riders' balance due to its sharp angle leading to the home stretch.

Target Number: 130 (Endurance)

Special: Any TP lost as a result of a racer's total roll being 20 or more points beneath the Obstacle's Target Number is doubled.

They indeed had a bond going back before Josh and Eris had met one another; Isaac was one of the first friends Josh had made... and at the time, one of his fiercest enemies. He realized it, too. As much as League and Rocket fought, they needed to resolve their differences and fight as one. The DRK Triad did not respect the lines between League and Rocket. The gods did not. Most importantly, the Origin Point would not. The Origin Point would consume indiscriminately. League, Rocket, civilian, it did not matter.

"It's not about that, Eris," Josh began to rasp, paralysis shooting up his body and toward his neck, threatening to rob his ability to speak. The skin on his neck began to turn red from the tension of craning so uncomfortably high just to keep eye contact with the blessed child. "Isaac made me realize it, too. I knew him before and after he escaped Rocket. I got to see both sides of him. Eris, we need each other. We as a region only survived Meteno because we crossed political lines and worked together."

The young man wanted to fold his ash-covered hands in prayer, but could not move them. He was paralyzed from the shoulders down, the Master of Faster unable to even crawl. If he so much as flinched, Eris' knife would pierce his chest, and he would bleed out within minutes, unable to move a muscle. "Eris, what I did that day was wrong. I wronged not only you, but everyone you are connected to." He, too, began to cry alongside her.

"Eris, I'm so very sorry. In my ambitious pursuit of Raikou, I had forgotten what truly mattered." He deeply exhaled, his eyes briefly shifting to the girl's knife. "...Do what you feel is just. If this is the closure that you seek, Eris, then I have no regrets. I am ready to meet the Great One in Her kingdom. But I implore you. I want to help you through this. Think about this. What do you have to gain by taking the life of a Champion who is willing to lay down his life to protect Hoenn?"

In what Josh expected to be his final moments, he began to pray to his god. The god that had mysteriously vanished upon kyle lopez 's death.

"O Great One, hallowed by thy name. May thy kingdom come and thy will be done, unto the heavens and the earth. Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who have sinned against us. O Great One, let us not succumb to temptation, and in our darkest hour, rapture us from the evils of this world, where we can bask in thine glory for eternity. Amen."

Even if Josh couldn't go fast, it felt good to sit on a Pyroar's back again.

Aslan, the Shiny lion of Josh's pride, trotted toward the south gate leading to Cycling Road -- and the underpass beneath it, where the distress call came from. The two victims had fallen in separate directions, and the male was missing -- unconscious was the speculation. The female's coordinates were known, and couldn't have been too far from where their missing person was.

Lined up next to the emperor lion, Aslan, were three other gorgeous, large males: Simba, Kovu, and Kion, all equipped with saddles and reins bearing the Mauville Rangers' logo. Behind them was a lone Cyclizar in case one of them couldn't handle the jostling nature of a Pyroar's run cycle. The Gym Leader's RAINBOW FEATHER glinted in the late morning sun, though he hoped to not have to use the power contained within.

"Pretty simple stuff, silverio delfino ," the Elite Ranger and Champion reiterated from the back of the Shiny Pyroar. "Need me to go over the briefing one more time? And do you have your own Pokémon to help get you there?"

silverio delfino

The emotion in the room was running high. The phrase "rest in peace" made Josh shed a tear thinking about it, too. In his eyes, it was no coincidence. The Top Champion passed down Swift to him because he knew the hour of his death. Or was it death at all for someone allied with a Patron that could cheat death itself?

It was for that reason Josh believed that rumors of the Emergent's death were greatly exaggerated.

"I don't think he's truly gone," he voiced his inner thoughts. "We've done an extensive search for his body around the area he was last seen, and no one was able to locate it. Given his bond with Ho-oh, I think he's out there somewhere. I have faith him him."

Ghost's question was one Josh had been asked many times. "I..." he trailed off, removing the RAINBOW FEATHER from his shirt and holding its quill in his fingers. "I was incredibly nervous. We set the expectation that I would be battling Entei. The Great One's trial was not in the script at all." He did flip the script a little at Ghost's final question about their facial expressions. "Which Champion? Kyle and I are both Champions," he chuckled.

Ollie wasn't wrong, and Kyle wasn't wrong, either. Josh loved Swift the way he was: a reflection of his inner self. A Pokémon that was fiercely loyal by virtue of his emotionless nature. A Pokémon that would floor it at his trainer's command. "If it's that widespread, then that's entirely possible. Its widespread nature is a bit concerning, though... how did it get into the homes of so many?" And was it related to the dream where Josh boldly decided that Raikou as a Patron was not a bribe he was willing to take for fealty to Rocket? A dream in which he was brutally executed at the fangs of the Pokémon he adored?

"You are right, though. It's something I need to think about. Be prepared for. Because I get the feeling that the relationship I have with Swift now and with Swift as a potential Patron will be very different."

Buyer beware, indeed.

Ollie's urgency snapped Josh out of his trance. "You're right, though. We need to keep looking for him if we want to make it back to Lavaridge before nightfall." He faced forward and leaned into the wind. "Hyah! Faster, Swift! Faster!" A roar boomed between the monochrome Raikou's fangs, the Champion's legendary speed greatly accelerating and pushing him into the back of the thundercloud.

Why was Josh so nice to everyone? Why did he care about the well-being of others? Why did he spare Elisabeth Fiorelli when he had the chance to kill her?

Because he cared.

He cared about people, no matter what side of the aisle they were on. Even the rank and file within Rocket deserved second chances at life. That was what Isaac Merlo taught him. What Asher Baran taught him. What so many other defectors taught him. For the only person Josh knew that could undo death, and that had undone death, was gone. "I'll put it this way. Being a child is something I wish I could do again. Go back to the days where I could daydream about riding a legendary Pokémon. The days when I was learning how to race my Manectric. The days before this awful war."

It seemed like Ever was at least willing to try. "I can show you how, sure. And they don't need to know about it. This will be between you and me. We just will need to schedule around my Gym hours. Anything else I should be able to move. What's a good day and time for you?" If prompted, he would furnish his Gym schedule to Ever.

This battle would be fast-paced, both sides severely weakened. The grass-type's Screech had left Toralf with an awful weak spot, while the Raichu's foe was too delirious to loose anything other than a haphazard Razor Leaf barrage. The attack was the perfect one to use in such a state, for its wide range would nearly ensure a few nicks and scrapes. Even the rodent's crazy speed would do him little good against such a wide attack. It was a great tactic to use against such a fast enemy.

"Now, build up speed with your QUICK ATTACK!" Josh ordered, the Raichu jousting past Haoyu's Pokémon in an effort to ram it down. Though it may have seemed like death by a thousand cuts was the Gym Leader's tactic, it was only a part of what he had in store. For there was an art that his Gym was all about: the art of harnessing speed to one's advantage. There was one Pokémon technique better at that than any other.

Perhaps that day would come sooner than they thought; Josh had also shared some of his most personal moments with the League's Calyrex: the one that traveled with Elise Calcifet . "Only one way to find out," Josh answered as he approached the park's south entrance, the warden taken aback by the legendary Pokémon he was sitting on. "We're here to enter the Bug Catching Contest," he asked. "Can I enter with a Raikou?"

The attendant shook her head. "Unfortunately, entering with a rare Pokémon is against the rules, and Raikou is on the list of prohibited Pokémon." Frowning, Josh drew the Beast back into the RAINBOW FEATHER, swapping him out for Saber. The thundercloud-shaped saddle the Manectric wore was almost indistinguishable from the one Swift carried, other than the color. It was the true color of a Raikou's thundercloud. They didn't stop Andrea and Pon; was Ogerpon such a recently discovered species that it wasn't in the database?

The warden began to explain the rules. "With your single registered Pokémon, you'll have twenty Park Balls with which to catch a bug-type Pokémon, and a half hour to search. You can only catch one Pokémon; if you change your mind, you'll have to release any others you catch. Your Pokémon will be judged based on size, strength, and rarity. There will be prizes for the top quarter of finishers." He also went over the entry fee, which Josh was more than happy to pay.

After paying up, Josh took a seat om his Manectric's back, feeling like a lottery winner from being able to sit in the saddle of a Pokémon and go at more than a brisk trot. He was still not feeling strong enough to handle a big cat's flexing back, but that would come in due time. "Alright, let's get out there and bag a winner! See you in thirty, Andrea!"

"A hero doesn't fight to conquer. A hero doesn't fight to destroy. You know what a hero does, Navy?" He let a moment pass to accept the blade the Warrior forged for him. It was exactly as he remembered it. Its hilt, the same color as the blues and purples of a Raikou's mane. Its blade, shaped like a lightning bolt, glowing yellow and dancing with electricity. He humbly took the hilt, static running through his entire body, briefly squinting as the electricity ran through his weak arm.

"A hero fights to protect. To protect their family. Their friends. Their region. And most importantly, the world. Rocket will fall. The DRK Triad will fall."

Waving for another of his Pokémon, Janus the Espeon arrived at his command, using his psychic energy to levitate Josh atop Swift's thundercloud. "I'm not planning on going anywhere with him. I just want to sit on his back and hold this sword, like I did in Galar. You must have been there, too... if you know about this sword." The Champion took great care not to put pressure on Swift's sides. Using his good arm, he slashed toward the sea, an ELECTRO BALL flying above the waves faster than even the strongest grass Pokémon's Bullet Seeds. "Does this make you...?"