[attr="class","dragomirpt"]

It may just have been a prototype, but Josh was pretty confident that it would run well. He had spent hours agonizing over it personally, after all. His first major advancement in RaiCorp's tech, that he was to lead a team of his own in development of -- it had to be perfect, he knew. So he had spent many hours in the lab personally building on and testing it. But his own eyes couldn't see everything the same way as everyone else. So Devlin's input did help. Especially when it came to building it into something such as a racing helmet -- that had been extra challenging.
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And with that, they were off. Josh took off after his younger counterpart on his own Hisuian Arcanine. As Devlin rocketed off through the ranch, his headset would begin to pick up the heat signatures of many Pokemon at once. At times it began to stutter as it tried to process all of it at once, but Devlin could at least pick up the sight of a Swampert, a Blaziken, a Typhlosion, a Venusaur, an Incineroar, a Haunter, a Tyrunt, a Rowlet, and a Poliwag.
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If he looked up in the air, he would catch sight of a Swablu, Salamence, Haunter, and a pair of Aerodactyl gliding through the air. In the waters nearby? Wishiwashi, Primarina, Gyarados, and for some reason a Forretress that was intent on taking a bath in the lake.
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The interface would, if Devlin pushed on his headset in the direction of any Pokemon he saw, try to identify them. But it was a lot of Pokemon, and it was bugging a bit at all the information it was trying to process. It did eventually do so, even with all the Pokemon at once, but it was perhaps a little slow.
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Josh Devlin

• player/ooc name: Josh
• character tags: Josh Dragomir
• dropped characters' tags (if applicable):
• ic posts for characters: pkmn-hoenn.boards.net/thread/36882/canine-chase-pj?page=1&scrollTo=442854
• are characters in directories?: Ye
• any notes/comments:

Did you know that Pikachu is a rat

[attr="class","dragomirpt"]

Well, back on cleanup duty, it goes. While Josh had been a background player in these world-ending threats for some time, he was fine with that. He was able to help with putting the world back together after spending all these years trying to keep it together in the first place. And today, his method of doing so was to put his Arcanine's nose to work in tracking down the "heroic dogs" that these folks had been talking about. Apparently they had made an appearance but he was still going over these reports regarding such.
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The only clue they had? Shards that carried the scent. But others were on the scene too, so it was going to get crowded quickly. Especially when he had a fairly sizeable Arcanine on his side that was bound to catch attention. "Shall we, Buddy?" the ranger questioned regardless. The dog had been down on itself since the Gym Battle with Little Josh, so this seemed like a good chance for him to get out there and have a chance to cheer up and feel like it had accomplished something.
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If they could just catch the scent, maybe if he hopped on Buddy's back, they could blaze through the pack and get ahead, and investigate unimpeded.
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Perhaps Agility would help.
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[attr="class","dragomirpt"]

What the-
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"Those Pokemon. What are they? Are they even Pokemon at all?"
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He didn't know. New Pokemon had been popping up lately, but not dissimilar to the Ultra Beasts like the injured Poipole he had nursed back to health, this Pokemon seemed like it had come from another world completely. And now?
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They were here in droves. He had come after getting a report of strange phenomena on the Ranger airwaves, but he hadn't expected to find something like this. Should he try to catch it? Would Pokeballs even work? He saw other Rangers around, likely thinking the same thing... But were these creatures like poison ivy, waiting for unsuspecting Trainers to get in too close?
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DA2zTOQ5

[attr="class","dragomirpt"]

Perhaps Amor didn’t know it, but he had just made a massive mistake.
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The Ranger’s expression darkened when he downplayed his situation because he “thought they were gone”. He stopped, then. “I’ll let that go because you’re not thinking rationally” he spoke with a calm sternness, but the slight edge behind his tone made it very clear that Amor had made a major error. The blonde’s grip on Amor’s shoulder became very firm. A reminder that, despite his consistently warm and friendly demeanor towards Amor, Ranger Dragomir was a hardened former International Police member, highly trained, deceptively physically strong, and more than capable of snapping the vital bones of most people with very little effort.
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“Let me remind you. He didn’t just walk back in the next day like nothing happened. I spent YEARS Amor, YEARS, thinking that was it. No happy ending, I spent over four years thinking he was dead. There was no indication he’d survived whatsoever. I had to grieve, I had to LIVE with the knowledge that I could do nothing, that I was too weak to accompany him, that I couldn’t save him” Josh made very clear, calm laced with underlying traces of boiling anger being repressed under the surface. “I had to walk with that burden for a long, long time and even when he came back, that didn’t undo any of the damage. It was already long inflicted. So excuse me for having a miracle happen after years and years of pain and suffering, that while I am deeply grateful it happened, doesn’t erase what I went through.”
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The Ranger took a deep breath as he allowed his grip to relax. He’d gotten it out of his system, at least. He sympathized with Amor’s plight, but he knew how foolish this was. And Amor’s next question was very much an unfair one. One that got him to just sigh.
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“In my heart? I’d do anything. But…” he trailed off as he shook his head. “My mind knows that I have to do it right. I have to do my research, consider things rationally. If this was really feasible, if this was a reliable possibility… Then someone with more resources than you or I would have done it already. A place that can resurrect your loved ones? It’s just not something that would stay a secret for long, and I’m not arrogant enough to think that you or I could straight up discover something this huge, unfettered, no bullshit.”
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His hand moved up so he could hook Amor by the shoulder and neck, pulling him into something of a one-armed hug. While he was angry at Amor for putting him in this situation and insulting what he had been through, he did want it to be clear he was on his side here. “And that’s the rub… How much obsessive, reckless forays into something I might not come back from, before I’m disgracing Izumi’s memory? Playing with forces that I shouldn’t control, potentially causing untold damage. That I’d be willing to risk throwing away the connections we made together, all the memories, or in my case, our kids… To bring her back because I can’t move on? She wouldn’t forgive me, even if I was successful in the end. If she were to die… As much as I would desperately want her back, she would want me to move forward and make a happy life for myself and the kids. And if one day a reliable option came up? Maybe that’s the day I’d see her again. Maybe I have to wait until it’s my time to go, I don’t know. But something like that… What I know for sure is that cheating death is never free. And she wouldn’t want someone to pay the price for her life either.”
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But he knew Amor probably wouldn’t stop, even with that. He knew all too well that Amor wouldn’t let anything stop him.
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“We’ll explore a bit more, see if we can gather intel” he brought up then, surprisingly offering to continue to help. “But as soon as things look dangerous, we need to turn back. Regroup. Put our heads together, do more research as a team, and actually get a plan together that doesn’t involve lying to me and rushing in.”
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Izumi was going to kill Amor if she found out about that.
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“I don’t know who this is for. But I know that they would never want you to risk yourself in the unknown like this for their sake. If there’s any chance that this will lead to your happiness, I’ll do my best to help. But I refuse to risk your life foolishly either. If things go wrong, I need your word that we’ll leave and return with a proper battle plan” Josh remarked, shooting Amor a pointed look. “You may refuse to believe it, but you have a family that loves you. And wants what’s best for you, and for you to be safe. You are my children’s godfather, Amor, and they look to you like you’re their own family. As do Izumi and I. My kids look up to you, and we depend on you. We don't want something to happen to you.”
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Amor Rose

[attr="class","dragomirpt"]

With a couple of peaches to eat tucked under his arm for a snack, the background ranger had answered the call to check out Granite Cave. While he munched on his peaches, Josh watched from afar as a group of Mawile appeared to be migrating. Or were they perhaps gathering for something?
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It was an odd phenomenon, that’s for sure. What could they be doing here? Maybe he should offer them some peaches?
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@tag

[attr="class","dragomirpt"]

Well, at least some people seemed happy that the eyepieces would be done soon. Gave him all the more motivation to keep working on them.
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More information about the loss of connection to Articuno was provided, as well as plans to allocate funds to a new project. Much of it didn't really apply to Josh, but he did start taking notes on his HoloWatch to send to Izumi. She was the Ranger Captain here, so the least he could do was keep his wife up to date. He listened as Josh Devlin started talking about the process of Avatarship. Believe it or not, Josh was well aware already. He'd once tried to bond with Articuno himself, after all, but was ultimately given the cold shoulder. It bothered him at first, but in the end, he just decided to commit more to training to gain that kind of power on his own, instead of moping over what an oversized bird thinks.
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Apparently he shouldn't feel all that in the cold however, considering even the guy that had actually impressed it was now being given a frosty reception himself. Guess Articuno just had no chill.
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Also, live his dream? Considering he hadn't seen Devlin riding on Raikou all the time as he'd expected him to, he doubted it was that. Or... Had Raikou chosen someone else as its Avatar? Damn. That was colder than anything Articuno had done. But there was talk that apparently two of the Legendary Dogs had died by Rocket's hands, and the possibility they hadn't? Josh didn't really understand. Maybe it was best not to think too hard about it, considering he was coincidentally never around when the interesting stuff happened.
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"It's worth looking for legendary allies, I think. But we cannot spread our resources too thin either, not with Rocket and that Avatar assassin group loose. Leaving Rangers, or by Arceus our Avatar Rangers, spread apart and alone to potentially be ambushed would be a problem" Josh decided to bring up at that. "If we're going to pursue legends, either alive or dead, that's going to take some long-term and very arduous exploring. So we need to be careful with which we focus on, preferably putting more into groups based off the strength of their leads. If you still want to pursue others, then we can do that when we actually have the manpower freed up to do so."
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He doubted that Devlin would like that. Any chance that Raikou was alive, he'd want to take, Josh knew. But the survival of the Rangers and the Avatars -- the safety of the region itself at that, had to come first. A fair bit more was said about legendaries, too much for Josh to process all at once. He remained silent past his own advice for now.

• player/ooc name: Josh
• character tags: Josh Dragomir
• dropped characters' tags (if applicable):
• ic posts for characters: pkmn-hoenn.boards.net/thread/33557/breakeven
• are characters in directories?: Y
• any notes/comments: Did you know that Sonic eats rings

[attr="class","dragomirpt"]

Josh had seen a lot of shit lately. And yet, flying pigs were not on the list of things he was expecting to see.
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Yessir, this is not a joke. There are pigs flying to and fro -- specifically, they're being sent flying by other pigs. Other pigs fighting amongst themselves as they yeet each other around a volcano. He didn't know what he was doing here and he didn't know why he was still watching this. But one thing was clear, if not monitored, the flying pigs could do some serious damage. Especially the really big pigs. He had to wonder if his own Tepig, Vigilance, whom was in a PC somewhere else and hadn't been imported to Hoenn just yet, would have also tried to yeet the pigs here if he was present.
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Maybe he should catch one and find out. Real stealth-like, a real John Cena like you had never seen before, and would never actually see.
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[attr="class","dragomirpt"]

For a Florges, restoring a field was a trifling matter. The blooming flower Pokemon had realized an issue very quickly into this, using its Flower Veil ability to begin bringing life back to the field. The Florges began to strut throughout the field, passing by a Mudbray, a Sandslash, a Mudsdale, and even its own pre-evolution whom was also using Flower Veil.
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The combined Flower Veil would add more warded flowers to the field, and the evolved form's aid would strengthen it as well. They would be great for keeping out pests. Considering the Florges had mistaken its Trainer for one before he'd caught them, this was a hilarious little development.
[break][break]

[attr="class","dragomirpt"]

Amor was lying. He knew he was lying. It was as flimsy as an excuse as could be. Far too general to merit yeeting him out of nowhere to get here. Barely any preparation, and no proper team to investigate. And why did he need a Ranger, a friend, when he could have brought an excavation team with his boundless heaps of money? There was something personal at work here. Something that Amor didn't want anyone else to know. He had brought someone that he thought would keep quiet, and defend him if it came to it. That was what was going on.
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"Amor, please tell me the truth. If there's something going on, maybe I can help you find-" he had tried to protest, but Amor had already jumped through the portal. The blonde made a face at that. "... A better way. Good grief."
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Well, there was nothing to it now. He needed to fish his friend out of whatever peril they would find on the other side. He just hoped there was a way out. So with that, he and Lightning would leap through the portal after him without any further hesitation, despite being half confident that he would probably die before they got anywhere.
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Well, he didn't die. But it sure looked like hell to him. He'd seen a lot of shit, and none of it was anything like this. Josh clapped a hand on Amor's shoulder the moment he caught sight of him, even if he was still trying to process what they were seeing.
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"Well, I see it. Congratulations, we're in the afterlife. Hopefully we can get out" Josh remarked bluntly, staring Amor dead in the face at that. "Nobody seeks out the afterlife on a whim. If we're going further, I need to know why we're here. The fact you're lying to me is only making it a bigger problem, and it's clear you have a personal reason."
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A personal reason. Why would someone go to the-
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A long sigh ensued as it hit him like a ton of bricks.
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"Is this to try to bring back your parents, Amor? Is that what this is about? You can tell me, I'd understand. When I spent all those years thinking my father was gone, I..."
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He couldn't even finish the thought at first, but his face said it all. It was the worst thing to experience. He'd never wish that grief on anyone.
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Amor Rose

[attr="class","dragomirpt"]

Damnit!
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Just narrowly in 4th. Not even 2nd or 3rd, much less the 1st he had been aiming for. Josh quickly stopped Buddy the moment they crossed the finish line, not wanting the Arcanine to have to strain more than they had already. Josh audibly cursed under his breath at how poorly they'd done. Buddy whined apologetically, though, and Josh took a deep breath as he placed a hand on their head to scratch behind their ears. "No no, you did amazing. They were just faster. It's ok, boy. You were good, really good" he reassured the Arcanine gently as he gave them lots of scritchy scratchies. "We'll get 'em next time. For now, I want you to get some rest, ok?" he spoke up then as he led Buddy to a distant corner, deciding not to return the Arcanine to their Pokeball just yet.
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So that whole exchange had been him completely ignoring the whole podium thing and Small Josh pandering and showing off his victory to the gym crowd. Since his presence wasn't required since he, well, lost. He prioritized what was most important in that moment. Sadly, Small Josh took his time showing off, so when he did find the older Ranger, he was sitting against a wall having just finished brushing both Buddy and Lightning's fur. The two Pokemon had since fallen asleep after the gentle brushing, and Josh had started texting his family when Smaller Josh approached. The older Ranger let out a yawn as he tilted his head up when he heard him coming.
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Then came the expected lecture regarding what the Gym Challenge was about. While he didn't exactly look bored, he didn't jump to his feet either. He was listening, of course, and his gaze didn't leave that of the Gym Leader. But his expression didn't change at all, as if he'd been expecting just about every word of it and had probably been reciting the lecture in his head already before Josh had even arrived. At least, until he pulled the Badge out of his pocket.
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"Huh?" he managed out, his half-asleep state snapping awake as the Leader continued. Where was this praise coming from? The course had seemed clear cut and dry. Be the fastest and win. But it seemed the Leader had something else in mind. While he hadn't won, he had demonstrated his bond with his Pokemon. Josh looked to the sleeping Arcanine stretched out across his lap. Well, he wasn't wrong that they were close, he supposed. Perhaps the League did value more than just competition after all.
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It took a minute though, for it to sink in that he had in fact won the challenge and was being awarded the Badge. Could gyms do that? On paper, it made sense, but... It was still a lot to take in. Eventually, Josh took a deep breath as he took the badge, lowering his head. "Thank you, Gym Leader. I'll keep working harder to be worthy of this honor."
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Small Josh then offered to head out for lunch once he was on break. Josh slowly nodded at that. "Sure. Just might need a bit to wake him up. I uh..."
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He motioned to the deeply sleeping Arcanine sprawled out across his lap and chest that didn't move even when he poked it. And the Raichu sleeping on top of the Arcanine. Who despite not having participated in the gym challenge, wasn't waking up either
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"I can't get up."
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Josh Devlin

[attr="class","dragomirpt"]

Singing in a cafe? Well, Josh didn't have anything for that job... Until recently. The Pokemon he had been hunting for some time in the Safari Zone had been caught trying to entertain the Pokemon in the ranch. So after seeing the flyer, Josh decided to give Fuecoco a gogo. Surprisingly, Fuecoco actually seemed a bit nervous as Josh nudged them towards the stage. This was clearly different from entertaining a couple of Pokemon. Had Josh made an error in judgement here?
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He had in fact not, for Fuecoco jumped straight into the fray as soon as the music began to play. It was a beautiful melody, albeit... Unique.
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@tag