Time was running out, he knew that. He just had to make the most of it. But his line didn't agree apparently, because he would fish up a Magikarp. Josh sighed in annoyance, cuddled up to Izumi and the kids, and cast again.

Izumi Yamamura

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Time was running out, he knew that. He just had to make the most of it.

But he had lost track of how many failed Magikarp Splashes he had done.

Izumi Yamamura

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Josh still didn't entirely understand just how he had gotten sucked back into this game again. He'd tried it once, wasn't a huge fan of it, never played it again. But his son, Zack, had seen the game on the shelf and wanted him to show him how to play because it "looked cool" so to speak, and Zack himself was still too young to play any full-VR system games. Though the game had apparently died, but it seemed he could transfer his account to something that was... Essentially the same? He didn't understand how all of this worked, to be honest. Maybe he was just getting old. But he was in, and his son was happy to watch, so this would do.

It wasn't long after that he found out by chance that one of his co-workers played, and now he was roped into... Whatever this was. Since Lightning wouldn't go inside his Pokeball long enough to be brought into the game, Josh would bring his Charizard "Fawkes" instead, as a "Flying Mount" as they called it. Though it sounded like his moves might not work...

Clothed in military garb with a single shoulder pauldron, and an overly large sword on his back, Josh would soon join his co-worker after finding him thanks to this party system thing. Though to his surprise, the kid was actually riding Raikou. Riding actual Raikou. Or well, virtual Raikou.

"Well, I guess dreams come true in virtual reality" Josh pointed out as he approached. "What's the objective, chief? Hopefully something exciting -- my son is watching."

Josh Devlin

-Notes-

"It's been probably six years now since I caught him, maybe longer" Josh mused aloud when the smaller Josh made his observation on how well-trained Fawkes was. "He was one of my first Pokemon. Was a little shit for the longest time, but we pulled through" he brought up, which got a smoky snort from the annoyed Charizard. "Gave Izumi and I the hardest time, too. It took awhile, but we reached an understanding eventually. Charizard are notoriously tough to train."

While Josh had been looking for assignment information, it seemed the recruit was dying to tell his life story instead. Well, he supposed he wasn't going to deny him the spotlight he wanted at the moment, so the Senior Ranger would motion for him to go on. If he needed to get it off his chest, who was he to tell him no? Supposed it would kill some time at least.

The boy asked if the name Elinor meant anything to him, but he shook his head. He didn't know the name, though he had seen the face without one. How many times had he and Elinor dunked each other at the competition now? Though he could almost swear he remembered a member of the council by name of Elinor... Either way, he wasn't familiar with her, so he didn't bring this fact up. The kid meanwhile, seemed to have a serious thing for Raikou. Fair enough, he supposed. He did like Lugia and Solgaleo, though he wouldn't say it reached the same level of near-worship as this kid.

"I liked Lugia as a kid. As an adult, it kicked my ass. Bad" Josh mused aloud, recalling his and the redhead's battle with one prior to his journey to Hoenn. "Got a good shot in on it, though. Lightning was just a Pikachu back then. Best hit I'd seen the whole day. Nasty Plot, Thunder, hit 'em right on the button. Pissed it off, though. Wasn't much longer before we were passed out on the beach."

But he was surprised to learn that Elinor had convinced him to give up the Gym Challenge and better use his time. But now, conveniently enough, he was now a Minor League Leader as his main job, and also a Ranger. "Three jobs. We really do have much in common" he remarked with a small laugh. "Though once you become a real Gym Leader, I imagine racing and the rangers will have to be secondary. Even when you got several jobs, one's always gonna be your priority."

But there it was. The smoke trail. Josh nodded his head when it was pointed out, and Fawkes would soon rocket forwards. Josh would tighten his right glove, just in case.

Josh Devlin

-Notes-

Lotad would accept the invitation to eat, and Josh caught it soon after. This had become formula for him. Catch a Pokemon through befriending it, or badger it into submission. It was a formula he had perfected over nearly a decade as a fully fledged Pokemon Trainer. Though along the way, he had picked up a few more responsibilities, so to speak.

Josh wasn't exactly a Pokemon racing guru, so he wouldn't be able to tell the difference between training and having fun in this regard. But the kid at least seemed to be enjoying the practice, so good for him, he supposed. And they were fast, too. While they were doing that however, a Murkrow would come down on them, wanting to steal the spare bait and snacks.

Lightning didn't even give them a chance.

The Raichu knew before it even reached there, and Thunderbolt was quickly loosed in turn. The Murkrow, odds were, didn't stand a chance against the experienced Raichu and odds are fried them near to a Murkrowy crisp. Sighing, Josh threw a Pokeball at them in hopes that his mother didn't get too haughty over having to help nurse two fried Pokemon to health.

Lightning was getting to be a bit -too- good in his old age.

Josh Devlin

- Catching Murkrow

It was nothin personnel, but Josh was trying to make the most of his throws before the game was over. Could he score another crown?

@stela

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Only a few more turns left, and Josh was starting to see just Poke Balls now. It was starting to look like the Clamperl were running out of goodies to give. That made sense, but he had to wonder if there was anything good left to get?

@tag

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Who knew if either of them were going to hit the Magikarp Splash at this point? Though Josh would note that Izumi came frustratingly close there. "Don't worry Izumi! If we fail, the kids will only laugh at us for a week! Or two... Maybe!" Josh tried and likely failed to cheer up his wife before subjecting himself to this hell again.

Izumi Yamamura

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Josh smiled softly as he snuck a peck on Izumi's cheek when the kids weren't looking. Wow, she really did yeet that Magikarp. Seriously yeeted. And somehow, the word "yeet" is what brought this post to a "College Graduate" level according to the word counter. How about that?

And now it says 11th-12th grade. Apparently the word "yeet" is actually cursed.

Either way, Josh found himself with a really small Lumineon on the line. He didn't recall catching this one before... Maybe it was one to consider?

Izumi Yamamura

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• player/ooc name:Josh
• character tags: Josh Dragomir
• dropped characters' tags (if applicable):
• ic posts for characters:pkmn-hoenn.boards.net/thread/26873/jumping-shark?page=1&scrollTo=320337
• are characters in directories?: Yes!
• any notes/comments: Dragomir has finally figured out what product to develop for the RaiCorp test! Hopefully soon to be revealed in some Izumi thread.

From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.

From a Mega Shard to a lowly-ass Pokeball.

@tag

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"You need to change your bait, that's why they're avoiding your line. They know it's a trick" Josh pointed out to Izumi as he would change his own lure and cast out again.

But not before sending back the tiny-ass Sharpedo that tried to bite his fingers off!

Izumi Yamamura

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BLUB!

Down he went, and so did Izumi Yamamura right before him. It almost seemed hopeless at this point. The two parents had thrown this contest long ago.

But it would be worth it if they could hit a damn Magikarp Splash!

@tag

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