Josh had been surprised to find that during his last stroll, he had been greeted by his own Incineroar, Micken. It seemed that Serena had gotten the papers cleared to have Micken cleared across the border into Hoenn, and once the Incineroar had been transferred, it had gone off on its own to hunt Josh down, greeting him in the Incineroar's own way. Josh didn't mind, and it was good training. Micken was with him this time, in one of his Pokeballs, as Josh felt it right to spend some time with the Incineroar when he got a chance now that they were here.

For now though, he was curious what he would find here...

"It's definitely been something" He admitted with a small smile. "It's been an adventure. But at the end of the day, there's no place like home. And for me, Hoenn has been the closest place to home that I've ever had, so it's nice to be able to come back here. We're hoping to permanently set up base here, but... You never know how things go. Things can change in the blink of an eye, so it's good to appreciate home while you've got it. Adventure is definitely worth the trip though. Getting to see new horizons has always been a treat. It's a little scary at first, but... You get past that before long."

Alec continued to talk about Gyms and the League, and his own experiences. "I've spent a good deal of time battling, so I don't know how I'd stack up to a Gym Leader, personally. Or the League, for that matter. It is quite possible that I would be completely outmatched."

With that, it seemed that his hair had been finished as the barber walked away. The blonde gingerly examined himself in the mirror, nodding his head as he seemed satisfied with the cut. With that he got up, stretching out and cracking his neck as he looked to Alec.

"So, what's the occasion? Trying to impress a girl?" He inquired, a small but mischievous smile crossing the corner of his mouth.

When they had arrived, it seemed that the queues were full. While disappointed, Josh wasn't all that surprised either. He supposed they would just have to wait until an opening came up. But it seemed they didn't have to wait long, as suddenly a young man would give his spot to them. Josh perked up in surprise, looking to the source of the voice, just as the man stated that he was just about to take a break anyway. While unsure if he really was about to take a break, he appreciated it nonetheless. He smiled gingerly as he took the rod and leaned down to help his son grasp it. Josh picked him up, urging him not to let go as he brought him up to where he would be able to see the tank below.

"Thank you" Josh spoke toward the man, though quirked a brow when he recognized his face. "Orion?" He inquired, then smiled slightly. "It's good to see you" He remarked, remembering the Ranger from the Fiery Path. "This is my son, Zachary" He introduced as he made a few motions to Zachary, before the black-haired boy (Who probably got the hair from Izumi Yamamura ) would cast his line, starting to giggle a bit as the Magikarp started to swim around it curiously.

"Aye. I didn't have him with me at the bank, but I've had this Typhlosion for a few years now" He explained as he moved his head forward when the hairdresser would approach and begin cutting his hair. "I'm gonna say I've had him since... About the first time I came to Hoenn, maybe six or seven years ago? He was one of the first Pokemon that I caught when I came here" He explained. "I've been to Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova and Kalos, plus spent my honeymoon in Alola. I went to school in Sinnoh too, and came back here and there on my travels, but my base at the time was primarily in Hoenn" He added. "Then my base became this other region, far away from here for a few years. It was there that I got married, gained employment and gained a good deal of experience as well. Then we moved back to Hoenn in order to expand RaiCorp's influence over here."

With the story concluded, the topic moved back to Fawkes. He would nod his head at Alec's remarks if he wasn't busy being clipped. "Mmm. It's been a long road. Hasn't always been easy, but... Well, we got there eventually. Fawkes is still stubborn, but we're a very close pair now. We've been through a lot together."

He closed his eyes and listened to the snipping as well as to Alec's story about wanting to become the Champion. He smiled slightly. His passion was admirable. "I've never thought of becoming the Champion of a region" He admitted quietly. "Never actually won a Gym Badge either. Might be why not a whole lot of people know me as a Trainer, but... That's alright, I think. I've gotten strong in my own way, and in the end, whatever I do goes toward accomplishing my own goal. And that's to become strong enough to protect my wife and my kids, no matter what comes along."

He nodded his head slowly. "I've seen it once before, so I know what shiny Houndoom look like. It's still a bit of a shock though" He admitted when Orion would bring up the coloration of their Houndoom. He was curious just how many of that kind there were out there... What gave them that coloration? It hadn't been something he had put much thought into before recently, but he supposed it was worth looking into at some point. Were they stronger? Or just different coloured?

Either way, he watched as the source of the stench that had begun to reach their senses was quickly chased away by Orion's Pokemon. Josh nodded his head in thanks as he watched Darumaka's Pokeball promptly disappear once it had been caught. It would make a good present for his mother, he thought, for he owned a Darumaka himself already named DK.

"You said you're a Ranger?" He inquired toward the man then, noting how effective he seemed to be at knowing what to do to gently chase Pokemon off. "What's it like?"

A Quilfish flew over his head, unnoticed.

He had been travelling through the area at the time when the sound of many angry dragons would resound through Littleroot. Having never seen a Drampa before, it caught Josh off guard. But the creatures looked gentle, something must have set them off, right? Seeing the myriad of Trainers beginning to gather and throw Pokeballs in hopes of quelling the horde, Josh decided to follow suit. He would traverse through the trees until one came into sight, before sending out his Raichu.

"Nuzzle" Josh spoke gently toward Lightning. He didn't want to hurt them, or cause them to rampage even more. Better to Paralyze one and catch them to further thin out the horde. Lightning did as instructed, launching itself toward one of the rampaging dragons and crashing into it, paralyzing them as Josh quickly threw a Pokeball in turn.

His next tactic didn't surprise Josh. To be honest, considering how much chaos he was trying to sow, he was almost surprised he hadn't done this sooner. Luckily, Alec seemed to be on the case for this so Josh didn't feel the need to bring out more of his Pokemon and make this even more chaotic unless he absolutely had to. His first priority though, becomes the Steelix. "Flamethrower!" Josh called to Fawkes, who following enduring the stat-lowering assault from before, unleashes a barrage of flames toward the massive titan. He motions meanwhile for his Swampert to continue to hold Protect, hoping to stop the Steelix in its tracks while it is attacking so the Flamethrower can take full effect. Knowing that Lightning will act well enough on it's own, Josh turns his attention to the bandit, who had begun to take off.

"Rai... CHUUUU!" Lightning cried out as the Raichu would launch itself at the Omastar and use Nuzzle, hoping to Paralyze it. Josh meanwhile had taken off after the bandit at a speed perhaps a bit surprising considering his size. Just as the Rocket reached the teller and pressed a knife toward their throat, Josh had slid over the counter and pulled out some kind of steel object. With the click of a button, the tiny rod would extent into a long staff that slammed into the knife at an angle, knocking it away from the teller. Josh immediately spun the staff so the other side was pointed toward the bandit's throat, said side beginning to spark with electricity. It was pretty clear he was trained to use the thing. Though he hadn't pressed it close enough to where it would harm him - that also left room for Gavin to make a break for it.

"Inferno?" He inquired, tilting his head a moment when he dropped the name. And then he realized. "Oh! You named a Pokemon Inferno as well! See, I have a Typhlosion, once I've had for years. His name is Inferno too!" He chirped with a small laugh. The barber was working on Alec, but they still were able to talk since their chairs were next to one another. "I was... Inexperienced when I caught Fawkes. I didn't raise him as well as I could have, and his temperament was already quite fiery as a Charmander. By the time he was a Charmeleon, I lost control. That was... I'm gonna say about six years ago. I'm glad to hear you're doing well though. Some just have different temperaments, I suppose. Or it could be you raised him better. But some Pokemon definitely change when they evolve. For better or for worse."

He shrugged his shoulders as he brought his head forward when another barber moved to him.

"But yeah, I've had Lightning for a long time. He was my first Pokemon, when I was a kid. I found him in the woods as a Pichu, injured. I nursed him back to health and my folks knew I wasn't planning to give him up, and he had no intentions of leaving. They tried, but... Well, first day back to school after that summer, I open my bag... And there's Pichu. Folks changed their minds pretty quick after that."

As the barber moved to grab a different pair of scissors, Josh held out his wrist to show the HoloWatch under his sleeve. Tapping on it, the sleek watch would open up a holographic interface. While he would answer his question, he did try to keep from revealing too much of who he was right away.

"I work for RaiCorp. They make gadgets like these with holographic technology. Can act as a phone, browse the net, can take voice commands as well as touch. Really useful when you're moving.

I don't know much about you though. What's your story, kid?"

"CINEROAR!"

The Darkest Lariat headed straight for them, before Josh's Charizard let itself out of its Pokeball to block it with Dragon Claw. Josh was surprised by the presence of the large Pokemon, but a small smile crossed his lips when he realized he could sense something familiar from them. If they wanted a fight... He would give it. "Fawkes, Dragon Claw!" Josh called toward Fawkes who would break the deadlock with a Dragon Claw once more that hit dead on. The Incineroar would counter though, with Darkest Lariat sending Fawkes reeling. Fawkes didn't stop though, attacking with Flare Blitz, sending its body crashing into the Incineroar and sending it reeling back as well, though also dealing damage to the Charizard.

Incineroar went for Fire Fang to capitalize, but before it could hit, the Charizard would suddenly attack with renewed vigor, hitting it while it was open and knocking the Incineroar down. Deciding that was enough, Josh would pull out a Pokeball and approach the Incineroar.

Truthfully, his memories of the robbery were a little hazy. But he would certainly remember at a later date. Either way, he smiled gently when the young man - confirmed to be Alec from the bank robbery - would greet him and ask how his Pokemon were doing. "Fawkes and Lightning" He remarked, before motioning to the Raichu over in the lobby corner, who was presently busy harassing one of the patrons who had berries in a basket. "Lightning, you need to ask first!" Josh called to the Raichu, who looked to his Trainer and pouted, but otherwise took a new approach at his Trainer's behest.

Josh then looked back to Alec. "Aye. I have a conference coming up, and while my wife likes this particular look a lot, a bit too much if you ask me... Business is business" He answered, though smiled gingerly when he brought up that his own Charmander had evolved. "That's cool. Charizard can be hard to handle but once you've got a wrap on them, they can be the most stalwart of companions. Powerful, too. Just make sure you're capable of handling them."

It certainly looked like he hadn't been paying heed to the civilians, wasn't it? But believe it or not, this was his wheelhouse. Fawkes had been busy with warding off the bandit's Emboar, but something had been forgotten in all of this - Josh's Raichu. When the Smog had first hit the field, Josh had handed a Pokeball to Lightning and sent him off just in case. He trusted the Raichu to know what to do if the people were in danger, leaving him to focus on taking out the bank robber's Pokemon. This was risky, very risky. How would the Raichu know what was the right time? But the thing was - Josh trusted Lightning. He would know.

The time came when the smog was accidentally sent toward the crowds instead of its intended target, and a blue light would be emitted from behind the smog, vaguely visible. This kept up until the smog dissipated and the bandit's Omastar used Rock Slide, putting themselves and the people in danger once more. Alec acted quickly, sending one of his Pokemon to use Protect to shield the civilians. Alec's Shelgon might be surprised to find a Swampert staring blankly at it, using Protect as well. Between them, the civilians would be safe.

He had kept calm throughout this. Perhaps a bit too calm.

Josh was confident in their capabilities, and thus he and Alec could focus on the bank robber's Omastar. "Dragon Claw" Josh called to Fawkes while Alec was doing his best to disorient the thing. Fawkes' claws would grow in a green aura as it rushed the Omastar from the front, cleaving through the Rock Slide before charging forward for a second, giving Alec more of an opening to attack from behind if he could.

Free haircuts?

While his wife really did prefer the more spiked up and unruly look, Josh did try and get it cut if he could before business meetings and the like. As the CEO of a massive tech company, even if it wasn't something he broadcasted often, he needed to keep up appearances when he was meeting with the board. So the timing couldn't be better, as a meeting was coming up soon. His hair grew way too quickly, which made this need frequent. All the more reason to take advantage of this opportunity while he could.

He hadn't had the chance to get it cut since coming to Hoenn though, so he was a little lost on what boutiques were in the area. So this was a good opportunity as well to gauge the terrain. Drumming up business was likely the intent of this offer anyway, so it worked out.

Once he was sat down, with his Raichu taking a seat on one of the cushions nearby, he gave the instructions for a cut when asked. "I'd like to have it cut short, if that's alright" He spoke calmly and politely, giving a gentle smile in turn. "Business casual, if that helps any. I have a meeting tomorrow and I'd love to look my best."

As the hairdresser left to tend to another customer once they had the details down, he looked around the area a moment before his gaze met the figure beside him. He quirked a brow in turn.

"Aren't you Alec?" He inquired curiously. "Fellow I met trying to thwart that bank robbery?"

The thought of his son and daughter getting sick didn't sit well with him either, and it had motivated him starkly to pursue this as soon as possible. He refused to risk it. He would find this cure or he wouldn't be home anytime soon. Sure, his reasons might seem selfish, and he did really want to find it for others too... But his top priority was ensuring that his kids were not exposed to this kind of thing. And he would do whatever it took to do just that.

He felt bad for making this guy talk though when he had just advised him to conserve his energy. But they had to do what needed to be done. Once he gave the bit about Bulbasaurs, Josh nodded his head as he looked to Lightning. The Raichu seemed to understand the conversation and began sniffing around, trying to get the scent of Bulbasaur tracks.

"Rai!" Lightning called to the two of them before rocketing off. Josh growled lightly, knowing that Lightning hadn't realized that their company was sick and wouldn't be able to move as quickly. "Slow down" Josh called to Lightning, and while the Raichu pouted a bit, he obliged. Josh looked to Kazimir as he started to head to the way the Raichu was leading. Hopefully they would be able to find the Bulbasaur... And the cure.