Joshua decided against trying to transte Unown, much to the violent wailing of Cynthia.

  It wasn't because it would be obscenely difficult, or that it would take far too long.

  It was because he was asked politely, in the form of a *beep* coming from his Arc Phone.

  >PLS DO NOT<

  …well, she said please.

  …

  Unconditional love is quite possibly the single greatest thing Joshua can think of, outside of God (who is technically love incarnate).

  It's a bubbly feeling, a constant warmth that waxes and wanes in his gut as the day goes on, but it never leaves, and it never dies out.

  It's about acceptance, growth. Taking in both the positives and negatives of your partner because both are equally THEM. And the desire not only to see them live, but GROW.

  Joshua never understood that feeling, not before the link.

  Jophiel, the White Horse, Violence Incarte, wielder of The Shovel In The Stone. She is all of these things.

  But most importantly, she is his partner. A companion till death, his second half. He's seen all of her, and her all of him. A connected consciousness makes their retionship odd to define, but it is no less important.

  The reason he's pondering all this is because currently…

  Jophiel refuses to walk through the mud.

  (“I am not doing it”)

  “Love, come on”

  (“Joshua, I love you. But I had just bathed. I am not getting mud on my fur again”)

  She stands firm on the edge of a mire, red-brown mud stretches across the ground in thick mounds.

  “Your body cleans itself when you evolved, it's not that bad!”

  Her coat and mane have a property that makes anything like dirt or grime unable to stick on. It doesn't roll off per se, it just doesn't stay on.

  Jophiel shakes her head, resisting as Joshua tries dragging her forward.

  Akari and Uriel watch on. Akari looks confused, while Uriel looks on in curiosity.

  (“It is that bad! It is a horrible, disgusting feeling!”)

  “You've fought demons! How are you scared of mud?!”

  (“I am not scared of mud! The mud should be scared of me!”)

  Pulling on her neck, the mare doesn't budge, looking at him with a firm expression.

  He sends her a challenging look back, moving behind her and pushing against her fnk. Since he's not trying to hurt her, she still doesn't move.

  “Love. I promise it won't be that bad, and if you want, we'll take a bath as soon as we get back”

  She bites her lip, looking away.

  (“...no”)

  Joshua sighs, making Jophiel turn back to him.

  (“I… I am sorry, Beloved”)

  “It's fine… I just sometimes forget how much of a clean freak you are”

  She was always like this, she's just been less vocal about it when they were busy or doing something.

  Jophiel actually takes the longest time bathing. Not because she's rger (which does py a factor), if she wanted she could bathe herself faster than Joshua.

  No. She's just extra.

  If she could get away with it, Joshua can totally see her leaning back in a bubble bath in dim candlelight with cucumber slices on her eyes.

  Hell, she's already plenty spoiled in NORMAL baths with how she acts when they bathe together.

  (“W-What's wrong with that?”)

  “You're willing to brain people with shovels yet you draw the line with swamps, is this a Rapidash thing or a Joey thing?”

  She opens her mouth, then closes it.

  (“...I am not sure”)

  [Whiteness]

  [White, therefore violent]

  [Horse discovers her own Whiteness]

  [Horse Philosophers come together to debate whether Whiteness is an inherent trait, or a learned behavior]

  [All were sent to the hospital, many shovels were harmed in the making of this program]

  “Couldn't you just fly?”

  They freeze.

  As one, the man and horse turn to Akari, who recoils at their gaze.

  “I-I mean… couldn't you just… fly? Zebstrika won't have a hard time keeping up…”

  “Uriel”

  “Uriel, sorry”

  Joshua blinks.

  Him and Jophiel stare at each other for a moment.

  Suddenly feeling really, really dumb.

  ‘Why didn't we think of that?’ He thinks.

  (“We were distracted, perhaps?”)

  ‘We? Don't think I didn't see that spike of excitement when I got behind you, y'know. You're the one whose distracted’

  Her ears tinge red.

  (“Just… just get on me”) Her wings adjust, and she lowers her stance slightly.

  ‘Gooner~’

  (“I am not!”)

  …

  Soceon Ruins is kinda… odd looking.

  Don't get him wrong, it looks cool. It's an ancient ruin, of course it looks cool.

  From above, it's literally just a big archway built into the side of a hillside, with a singur guard standing outside.

  It's smooth, that's the first thing he noticed.

  The floor on the inside and the curved walls are all made out of symmetrical, straight lined tiles and sbs. For a ruin, it's extremely put together.

  Since there's no doors, it just opens up into a rge square room.

  The guard freezes, staring wide eyed at Jophiel as she swoops down.

  ‘He's scared of you’

  (“Good”)

  Not beating the allegations.

  Joshua raises his hand, catching the guards attention as Uriel appears in a blur of electrical discharge, crackling at the air as slows down.

  “She's with me”

  The guard grits his teeth and nods.

  He puts Uriel into her ball… he really should spend more time with her, shouldn't he? Maybe he can find something nice for her in the markets.

  …but what does a Stripe Horse want?

  (“I'm sure she would be delighted with whatever you get her”)

  Joshua smiles.

  ‘Yes but I still want it to mean something, y'know?’

  (“I understand. Maybe you could carve something for her? She likes watching you while you do that”)

  Gluttonous Beast has artistic taste?

  Learn something new every day.

  …

  Like in the game, Warden Caba of the Pearl Cn stands with her Bibarel.

  And if Joshua were being honest, the interaction wasn't that interesting. He isn't sure if Arceus is pulling strings, but everything went like it does in the game.

  They introduced themselves, Caba denied help. Joshua handed her the Wall Fragment he got from Coin.

  “All lives touch other lives and create something new and alive. I see…” She murmurs. He can't read the words, it's the same strange script from before.

  Joshua really doesn't want to be mean, he really doesn't. But at ninety nine years old, having the most profound and life-changing revetion be “just be nice to each other” is…

  It's not that he disagrees. Love thy neighbor, he follows the same message. But why is she having this revetion now? Hasn't she seen this ruin dozens of times already? Is this the only time someone has helped her?

  Nice thoughts, Joshua, nice thoughts.

  Now, it's time to fight a bear.

  …

  [POV: AKARI]

  Sludge Mound.

  He's doing it again.

  Why is he doing it again?

  Why???

  Standing in front of a massive Ursaluna, the man she's been following casually crosses his arms at the snarling Pokemon.

  He couldn't be satisfied throwing himself at the normal extremely dangerous monsters, no, now he's going after the Noble and Ride ones!

  “Jophiel” the man says. And the enigmatic Rapidash steps forward, horn dimly abze.

  “Psycho Cut”

  *RRROOOOAAAAARRRRR*

  The Ursaluna charges, Rapidash raises her head up, horn brightly shining as she whips it down.

  *BOOOOM*

  A powerful ssh of pink energy sms into Ursaluna, sending him back and skidding across the mud.

  Ursaluna picks himself up, eyes manic but recognizing the threat in front of him. Joshua is just watching with a neutral gaze.

  The Ride Pokemon starts walking to the side. Rapidash narrows her eyes and walks too, her gait is elegant and refined compared to the heavy steps of Ursaluna.

  They circle each other, tension rising as Warden Caba clenches her fists nervously.

  Ursaluna moves.

  Rapidash's horn ERUPTS.

  Stones fly, pilrs of mud and ground rise up in sharp edges, clubs of stone shoot out looking to pummel anyone in its path.

  Fshes of pink light hurt her eyes as brightly colored “wind” tears through the soil like a storm of shattered gss. Glittering like stars, rocks are covered in pink auras and thrown back from whence they came.

  The terrain is becoming unstable, it's hard to see the battle aside from fshes of brown and white.

  Akari and Warden Caba have to back up, while Joshua just stands there like nothing has happened.

  A wave of heat makes sweat fall down her face, looking up she sees a massive ball of fire burning like the sun just floating in the sky.

  Rapidash flies out of the chaos, breaking out of the battlefield as she whips her ignited horn downwards.

  The ball of fire FALLS.

  Exploding against the ground, the move shakes the soil underneath them as it obliterates the pilrs of mud and stone.

  Struggling to stay on her feet, Warden Caba gasps as a fsh of heat evaporates the water around them.

  *CRRRAAASSHHH*

  Ursaluna breaks through a wall of stone and locks his eyes on Joshua, body covered in bruises and burns. Joshua uncrosses his arms, the only time he's moved since the fight.

  Then the manic Ride Pokemon does something that makes Akari's heart drop.

  “LORD URSALUNA! WAIT!”

  Ursaluna charges at Joshua. Kicking up dirt behind him.

  Akari can see Rapidash snap her head towards him, wings raised to fly down when…

  Joshua widened his stance.

  Ursaluna LEAPS.

  Dodging at the st second, Joshua… throws his arms out and wraps them around Ursaluna's neck?

  What is Almighty Sinnoh’s name is he doing?

  He whips around, heels digging into the dirt as Akari can hear him groan loudly, twisting his body despite the immense weight. To her utter horror, Ursaluna is flung over his shoulder and smmed into the ground onto his back with a loud thud.

  “...”

  “...”

  Did he just…

  Akari looks at Warden Caba.

  Warden Caba looks at her. They're both wide eyed, mouths gaping open.

  Ursaluna is fbbergasted too, blinking dumbly as Joshua back off and takes deep breaths.

  “We're not pying fair anymore? Alright”

  Joshua plucks two pokeballs from his belt and throws them upward.

  The air CRACKLES as Zebstrika, Uriel, appears. Alongside a blue fish like pokemon she doesn't recognize, but looks just as confused as she is.

  “Team…”

  He points a lone finger at the recovering Ursaluna. Some kind of message she isn't understanding.

  The hair on her body stands up as the air crackles in excitement.

  A bright pink light overpowers the colors around them, nearly blinding Akari as it cuts into the sky’s natural blue.

  And the fish Pokemon seems to be… ughing? Crying? As a ball of white, dense energy starts to gather in front of their mouth, something about it makes her VERY nervous.

  Wait, where did that shovel come from?

  This isn't a Pokemon battle.

  THIS ISN'T A POKEMON BATTLE.

  LAVENTON SHE CHANGES HER MIND SHE WANTS TO GO HOME NO-

  *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

  (A/N: Never made sense to me that a canonically super-pokemon like Ursaluna is only like level 26. The author does not condone horse-on-bear violence)

  (unless it is funny)