First, a job dealing with a thieving Oranguru, now going to a Renaissance Faire. Hideo was right about Doug being the best mentor he’d ever met.

His only attempt at dressing for the times was to hide away his metal, retractable cane in his pocket for something more period-appropriate: a stick. One that they found along the way.

Not like dressing up for the occasion was a big deal for him - best he could do was play around, listen to everything going on, and try some authentic middle-age cuisine.

Like the corndog Doug just gave him. “Mmm, authentic renaissance ketchup,” he said, taking a bite.

Doug had his attention once more with another guessing challenge.

Hideo was already starting to guess with the hints he was given; a bug-type that loved medieval faires. That already narrowed it down by a lot, though he still had to check to make sure exactly which one it was.

The stick under his armpit, he reached out with his now-free hand, and the moment his free hand touched one of its lances, he knew what it was.

He pulled his arm back. “Escavalier. Not a lot of medieval bugs out there, so it’s gotta be that one. Did I get it right, Pom?”

He opened his hand - and got a tail-five from the Pokemon sitting on his shoulder, her massive grin ever-present. One that spread to Hideo.

Running off the high of his success, he made a request: “Hey Doug? Do they got Pokemon you can ride here? I wanna try riding one, like a knight! Shouldn’t be too hard to find one that can carry me.”

John Sullivan

"Made it too easy, huh?" Said the youth with a chuckle as the kid guessed almost instantaneously, scratching at the tip of his nose. "I'll up my game next time. Maybe find Bedwyr a new bud."

He reached for and pet Bedwyr's crest as he finished speaking, the bug knight leaning into his touch.

A grin that had been stretching over his lips grew as wide as it could go at Hideo's request, the youth reaching down to grab the kid's hand.

"You got it, Hideo! Think I saw a stable 'round here. Shouldn't be too hard to find it... Just follow the smell!" He said, before he began to lead Hideo around the faire.

It wasn't exactly hard to reach the place- not just because of the smell, but because it was a large, fenced off piece of the land near the center of the faire.

And it had Rapidashes.

"Hoo boy kiddo, yer in for a treat!" Said the youth as he approached the person in charge, reaching into his pocket for his wallet. "How much to get the kid on one of 'em fancy my little ponyta lookin' Rapidash, m'good fella?"

"That'll be- that a walking stick, sir?" The man cut himself off as he noticed the... 'stick' carried around by Hideo, as well as the pokemon wearing the obvious blue vest.

"A lore-friendly walkin' stick, yeah." Doug said in response, brows furrowing slightly as he noticed the man's expression shift. "Uh. That a problem?"

"Apologies sir, but I'm afraid he cannot ride a fully grown 'horse' without a legal guardian."

"... Okay."

"Thank you for und-"

"Seems like we are ridin' together, Hideo!"

"Whu?"

---

TAG: Hideo Kino

There was one more thing Hideo could do: smell the place around him. From the scent of rusting metal to the savory cooking food to the smoky fires, everything invited him to something more.

Then there was the barn smell.

It wasn’t that he liked the smell; it was more that it told him they were headed to where he wanted to go next. “I can follow it, alright,” he said, a neutral expression on his face. At least he could bear it.

He’d leave the negotiating to Doug, more interested in actually doing stuff with a Rapidash. “They’re the ones that have fiery hair, right?” he asked Pom, receiving a softer pat to the palm that time. “Sweeeeet! I hear they can get up to 150 miles an hour! This is gonna be great!”

He could hear the clip-clop noises of one approaching him, and he reached out to touch it. He met with was soft, short fur - and his cheek getting licked. “Guess this one likes me!” he laughed, unaware it was just licking off some ketchup.

“Well, guess that one can do. She’s a pretty calm one, so as long as he’s riding with you, you’ll be good. I’ll make sure she takes it slow.”

Hideo sighed a little, disappointed. “Ah well. First times are always the safe ones, I guess.”

Once the man was paid, he’d let the pair inside the fenced area, the Rapidash Hideo had “charmed” waiting for them. “I’ll help him up for you, though his Aipom will have to wait here, and he can’t keep the stick with him. You sit behind him, sir.”

Hideo wouldn’t resist, handing the stick to Pom, who took a seat on the fence. Getting on the Rapidash was easy when the man effectively lifted him all the way up.

Little would any of them know that Pom was ready to get up to her usual mischief: once the two of them were on the horse (or just Hideo if Doug took too long), she was going to provide a little bit of motivation for the Rapidash: a Double-Slap to the rear to get her going nice and fast.

Hideo wanted a great first ride: she was going to make sure he got it.

John Sullivan

A single mistake was made in the process of mounting the Rapidash.

Doug's shoelace came undone- and he stopped to tie it up. He worked on it quickly, making a neat, standard knot that would hopefully deal with it for the rest of the day.

But just as he lowered himself to one knee to begin working, he casually glanced up.

And his gaze met Pom's own as her tail rose in the air, right behind the Rapidash's bottom.

His eyes widened, swiftly communicating with the monkey.

'Do not.'

Pom's eyes, however, did not flash with the light of comprehension.

SPANK SPANK!

"DagNABBIT POM!" said, no, screamed the youth as he sprang towards the Rapidash-

And tripped on his shoelace, face planting upon the greenery as the Rapidash suddenly reared back and nieghed loudly!

"HOLD ON TIGHT, HIDEO!" Screamed (again) Doug as the Rapidash broke into a sudden, frenzied dash.

So much for 'calm'.

"Oh god, oh god! If something happens to Hideo I'm sealing your pokeball shut with THAT RAPIDASH'S SUPER GLUE!" Screeched Doug at Pom as he scrambled after the horse, flat out just dumping his shoes.

---

TAG: Hideo Kino

Pom had the biggest shit-eating grin when Doug tried to stop her. He could not stop her.

Hideo caught on that Pom was about to do something - as she always did. “Pom, don’t-”

The Rapidash went wide-eyed as its tush gained two hand-shaped red marks. Hideo had a good idea what was going to happen next, and clung to her neck - just in time for his ride to rush forward.

Pom was laughing her butt off - mainly at Doug’s slapstick attempt to catch up. She watched as the horse ran across the arena, her trainer clinging on to her for dear life. The horse was going fast, grabbing the attention of everyone else within. And of a few onlookers.

It was only a matter of time until they were going to reach an end of the fenced area. Pom could at least be confident that the Rapidash would tire herself out; as long as she stayed within the area, it wouldn’t be an issue.

Until she jumped over the fence in a single bound, proceeding to run off into the faire. With Hideo still holding on, clued in to his dire situation and shouting as loud as he could for everyone to get out of the way.

That wiped the smile off Pom’s face real fast.

Obviously, she wasn’t going to catch up on her own. Doug wasn’t either, unless he pulled out a quick bug. And she couldn’t try to attack the mount: she risked hurting Hideo and agitating her further.

She’d looked around for a solution, and spotted one: another Rapidash nearby. It was a crazy plan, but what other option did she have? The guy manning the area was already distracted radio-ing in the incident, so she had the chance

Just quickly make sure the gate was open, before rushing over and climbing on top of the horse. She wrapped her little arms along the reins and gave it a few good pokes with the stick she held in her tail, enough to get it moving.

She made sure to pass by Doug - pulling on the reins enough to slow her ride down so it was matching his speed. “Aipom {Get on!}!” she’d shout.

John Sullivan

He didn't think twice about what a dangerous stunt he was about to pull.

He leapt at the bloody horse, grasping onto the rains and hanging off the side for dear life, desperately swinging his leg to try and hike it up into the thing.

Ah, screw it.

"FASTER!" He said, ordering the equine pokemon to catch up. He hoped to God that this one happened to be faster than Hideo's, because that one had a head*start and seemed pretty keen on running the mile and further beyond.

He needed to distract it.

"Go, Mothra!" He said, throwing out a pokeball ahead, summoning his Volcarona to the field.

She spun in the air with a flourish as she swiftly came to terms with the circumstances around her, kiting around the youth and the Aipom while looking him in the eye in askance.

"Slow down that horse! Stand in its way or something!" He said in response, abruptly ordering the first thing to mind. "Go on! Catch up with Quiver Dance!"

The Moth took on the task with a nod and flap of the wings, bursting towards the other Rapidash while merrily spinning and moving elegantly through the air, swiftly picking up speed as it danced the distance between them down.

Before long, she flew in an arc around the running beast, swooping down and flying between its legs before swooping back up and into its path.

"HOLD ON TIGHT, HIDEO!"

---

TAG: Hideo Kino

Hideo clung to that horse for dear life. Even as the Rapidash’s mane began to glow in color, heating up; not enough to cause any harm, but it was getting uncomfortable. Best he could do was keep shouting to get people’s attention so they could get out of the way. And hope that this Rapidash would get tired soon.

Fortunately for him, he’d yet to (indirectly) cause any casualties. And the Rapidash that Pom had stolen acquired was, indeed, faster than Hideo’s, slowly gaining on him.

And Doug was already acting to rescue him; the Rapidash took notice to the Volcarona immediately. She tried to run around, but it was no use: that bug would just stay in front of her no matter what.

So if she couldn’t get around the bug, she’d just go in another direction; she took a sharp turn away from the moth, in-between a set of stands.

But that sudden change in momentum was too much for Hideo to handle: he tried to listen to Doug, but his grip gave way, and he was thrown off in the air - coincidentally, right towards the Volcarona.

Hopefully, Mothra was ready to catch him. Or braced for impact, because all 68 pounds of this kid was heading straight for her.

It’d be up to Doug whether or not they’d continue to pursue the Rapidash.

John Sullivan

"AaaaaAAAAAH!" Screamed Doug loud enough to crack cups of glass as he saw Hideo fly off the bloody saddle, the youth's eyes nearly popping out of their sockets in horror. "AAAAHCATCHHIMCATCHHIMCATCHHIMAAAAH!!!"

Mothra's eyes matched her trainer's as she saw the boy fly off the Rapidash, a high pitched screech of horror also abandoning her hidden maw as she spun in the air to get in the boy's path, quiver dance coming to the rescue once again.

All 68 pounds of boy slammed into the moth's body before her wings snapped around him tightly, her fur embracing his much smaller frame. She fell to the mud while hugging him tightly, the ground hurting her back until they slowly came to a grinding stop.

Catch the other Rapidash? He wasn't a bloody carnie-worker. Doug was bawling as his own Rapidash came to a stop near the boy and the Volcarona, throwing himself off it before throwing himself on the other two, hugging them tightly.

"Oh god, oh god, I'm so sorry Hideo! I'M GONNA SUPERGLUE THAT MONKEY'S POKEBALL! Mothra, oh god, are you okay?!" He said, hugging both of them tightly, all control over his indoor voice lost.

---

TAG: Hideo Kino

Hideo didn’t even scream when he was thrown off the Rapidash. Some part of him knew it was going to happen at some point, with the speed it could run at. All he could do was brace himself to hit something, and pray whatever happened he landed on would cushion the impact.

And he hit something pretty quickly, well above the ground - at least, that’s what he assumed.

It was soft. Really soft. And it wrapped around him, and felt warm. He’d have assumed it was a cusion of some sort had it not been for the screaming; probably a Pokemon then.

Now that he thought of it, he thought he heard Doug screaming for something to catch him. One of his Pokemon?

The impact itself wasn’t too bad - for him. Between his furry barrier and the soft mud, it was like someone had thrown him onto a bed.

He could feel his heart beating in his chest, his breathing quick and short. And before he could process it any more, someone else jumped on top of them, hugging them close.

It was Doug. Who sounded pretty upset with what happened, especially towards Pom.

As Hideo’s heart began to slow, his breathing slowing and growing deeper, he could finally think.

His response started slowly, but decisively: he giggled.

It steadily evolved into laughter. “Ah man! Didn’t think my first ride would be that wild! Is it always like that?”

Pom jumped off the Rapidash, rushing over to her trainer. She was looking him over, poking and prodding to see if he’d gotten hurt, but his laughter didn’t stop.

“Can’t believe I didn’t come to one of these sooner! I can’t wait to get on another!”

His reaction wasn’t just out of his own genuine amusement: if he acted terrified or didn’t defuse Doug’s distress fast, he might actually make good on his promise to glue Pom into her ball.

John Sullivan

"No." Said Doug in response to Hideo's question, hugging the kid and Mothra harder while rocking to and fro- whether for them or himself, was anyone's guess.

After a moment, the young man finally managed to stand up, before picking up Hideo like a(n even younger) child.

"No more horses." He declared, officially putting on hold any plans to 'get on another one' the kid or Pom might have. "My heart will give out if we get any more surprises today."

He was glad, if nothing else, that the kid had had fun- but he really didn't think his heart could take another panic attack.

"Let's just... go find somewhere to sit for a minute." He said, feeling nausea hit him at the mere thought of anything else happening to the kid. "I'll get you anything you want, but let's not do horses again."

At least for that day.

---

TAG: Hideo Kino

“Spoilsport.” Yeah, probably wasn’t much of a chance that Doug would let him try that again. Probably ever. He was holding on to him like he was his mom - she probably would be doing the same thing if she saw what happened (he prayed nobody took a video of what happened).

He’d just have to wait until he could come here with someone else. Or even by himself. Then he could get another Rapidash ride. Preferably after making sure Pom was back in her Pokeball first.

But for now, he’d just have to do what Doug said. Not like Hideo could really argue; Doug had a very tight hold on him, and was even carrying him around. “If it’ll keep you from getting a heart attack, then fine, we can do other stuff.”

“Guess we can do stuff after you get some time to sit. Haven’t kicked us out for that stuff anyways.” Not yet, anyways.

John Sullivan

"Darn right." Doug said in response. He could cultivate his 'cool mentor' image another day. His heart couldn't take another Pom moment.

"They won't kick us out." He said, breathing in relief as Hideo relented. He had expected as much, given the boy's general character, but still. "Their workers should'a been near to stop that from happenin'n the first place!"

And who the heck had the balls to kick out a blind child having fun at the faire anyway? No one with a working heart, that was for sure.

"Anyway... What'cha wanna eat, Hideo?" He said, trying to steer the conversation into less disappointing subjects, peering around the many stalls of the faire. "I can see a... Ramen Noodles stand?"

That didn't seem very Galarian...

"Guess the Johtonian Edo period's technically Medieval." He said, before glancing to another stall. "Could also try traditional... Medieval... Takoyaki?"

Who the heck had organized this faire? These were just regular faire foods!

---

TAG: Hideo Kino

Eating was...well, it wasn’t something he disliked doing. It was just that it was one of the less exciting things they could do here. Hideo understood that chances were Doug was only suggesting that out of fear of another incident occurring, but that didn’t stop him from frowning.

Ah well. There was always next time. “Guess I’m a little peckish. Any authentic renne fair stuff is good to me.”

But what Doug brought up was lackluster. Ramen could kinda pass off as medieval food, but he’d had enough of that that unless it had a really unique twist to it, it wasn’t going to get his interest. And Takoyaki was definitely not authentic.

“You sure that’s all you’re seeing? ‘Cause that’s a pretty sorry selection.”

A light tug on his sleeve drew his attention to his guilty-looking Aipom. “What’s up, Pom? You got a suggestion for us? It’s gotta be something we can eat though, ‘cause Doug’s saying he’ll have a heart attack if we do anything else.”

Though he couldn’t see, she was pointing with one of her stubby limbs to another part of the fair - so that Doug could see it if he looked. She tugged on the boy’s arm a little, trying to pull him towards that direction. “Guess it won’t hurt to go along with her. But if she’s just messing with us again, I will put her back in her ball.”

As it would turn out, she was trying to guide them to a pub-like stand, one that she saw during their chase moments ago. It had a much more authentic selection of food; mostly grilled meat of different varieties.

John Sullivan