Finn stood in front of Flying Sword School's main building - a stern and impressive hall framed by red pillars and a broad roof - with his twin swords in his back and his emerald fighter's kimono folded handsomely. His steel headpiece crowned his brow boldly, and even though he wore his usual expression of a potent flame shielded behind a stoic screen, he wondered inwardly how this meeting would unfold.

Josh Devlin, Gym Leader of Mauville City, was visiting. He was an important guest, one Finn had to entertain himself as the school's chief.

He was also the real life version of the AI Josh that Finn had been chatting with on Rondez-view.

And, as the huge double doors to the campus swung open to let real Josh stroll into view, Finn's eyes widened uncharacteristically. Those were some big cats - and was that a mythical Pokemon?

Finn blushed, and then caught himself instantly. The AI was good. Real Josh was as striking as the algorithm made him.

Look normal! Finn ordered himself. He turned his frame to face Josh and nodded politely, keeping his undercurrents masterfully under control.

"Welcome, Josh, to Flying Sword School. I'm Finnegan. It's a pleasure to finally meet in person." Finn felt an awkward tinge of almost inappropriate familiarity as they shook hands; in another world, they were far beyond pleasantries by now. Also, in this current world, Josh had replaced the Raikou Finn stole from him with a Zeraora. Finn deferred his gaze from the creature, as if afraid it would burn his eyes out just by staring. "You have an impressive, strong team." Finn's own Pokemon - a rash Scyther, vibrant Kirlia and a Primeape who looked a hair's width away from punching someone in the face - nodded respectfully. 

"We're honoured to have you. I was intrigued by your mention of mounted combat. Could you help me understand this?" 

In the world of his phone screen, fuelled by the night and boba, Finn had already seen what Josh meant. He waited expectantly, as if watching to see someone fill in an outline with colour - was the AI really that good? Was real Josh like that too?

Josh Devlin

If all of Josh's Pokémon scared Finn this easily, could the young man really handle a sword as well as he advertised? As much as his Gym taught the tenets of level-headedness under pressure, wielding a blade required even more calmness than riding a Pokémon at breathtaking speeds. Like he had any room to talk. He nearly murdered a minor in a fit of rage over Raikou. He had lost it in front of Katherine Fairburne and kyle lopez at Mount Pyre, breaking ranks on impulse of fighting with the Elite Four's Zeraora.

Some Gym Leader he was, unable to take his own advice in the heat of the moment.

He shook his head. Now was not the time for negative thoughts. One of the reasons Josh had signed up at the school was to hone his own level-headedness in ways that were somewhat out of his element. He was also learning the value of being able to do more than dodge by being on his Pokémom. If he was going to ride his Pokémon into battle, he needed to learn how to fight on his own, too.

Wait, meet in person? They had never really met online; Josh had sent the school an email. Did the chief really handle the Gym Leader's request personally? He didn't buy that. "But...I don't think we've met before, even online?" He shrugged as he set Raikiri's reins down, the electric cat bouncing in place and jostling Josh. The Zeraora was excited. "That's me! Elite Ranger Devlin or Gym Leader Devlin formally, but I prefer Josh. These five are some of my most loyal Pokémon."

He introduced his squad of saddled cats and Manectric, one at a time. "This is Raikiri," Josh pat the Zeraora's head gently. "The League bestowed me with him after exemplary performance in the field of battle." Technically it was kyle lopez who did so, but Kyle was the Top Champion, so his statement wasn't wrong. "These three are Aslan and Simba, my Pyroar; Blitz, my Luxray, and Saber, my Raikou." There was a sly smile on his face for the next several seconds. "I wish. I wish Saber was a Raikou. He's just a Manectric dressed up as one." The electric dog sounded a single greeting bark while the cats each raised a paw like a human would lazily wave a hand to greet another.

"My Pokémon Gym, as you may be aware, is a racing facility. We teach the art of riding and racing Pokémon there. It lets you bond with your Pokémon in ways you'd never reach with battle alone." He let out a deep sigh. "I've also found myself conscripted into Hoenn's military twice now. Once for the Meteno operation, and a second time for a future operation I'm not at liberty to talk about. Riding my Pokémon into battle has helped me remain mobile and out of the way of attacks, but I want to be able to fight back. I'd like to learn the art of fighting while on a Pokémon's back." The verbiage Josh used was scarily similar to the email he wrote when he contacted the school on the first place.

Finn wanted to slap himself at how giddy he was being. He could sense that he was losing ground with this very important person - he was weirding Josh out! Yes, they had met before; they met right there on Finn's couch. They shared a ride on a Raikou, blazing across the black sky in a flash of gold and what seemed like a sleep-deprived emotional dam explosion. Finn wanted to die. He could not believe the depths he'd sunk into; he was losing his mind over a cute AI boy that had become real.

Still, the AI hadn't captured Josh in full fidelity: one important dissonance made this situation a bit easier to stomach. Within the world of the screen, they were on a real Raikou. In reality... thing were a bit different. Finn nodded politely at Josh's Pokemon, now taking much care to keep his cards closer to his chest. Dressing up his Manectric in legend cosplay was weird, and also kind of sad.

"Working with one legendary Pokemon is already much more fortune than many of us will ever have." Finn smiled mildly like an autumn wind.

As Josh explained what he wanted to achieve, Finn marvelled at how the AI had quite faithfully captured the way he spoke and emoted. Once again, Finn's metaverse fantasy overlaid itself over his physical reality. He could totally imagine himself going on a fever dream Raikou hunt with this man whose verbosity wrapped tightly around what must surely be a turbulent wellspring of desire.

"Yes, this sounds like a worthy pursuit." Like a fighter who's found his connection with the ground, Finn sank into coach mode, and his fanboying faded into the background as his seasoned confidence rose. "I am more than happy to help you figure this out. I see this as a meeting of minds - you have the riding expertise, and I know my swords. I could teach you, but I need to figure out the riding part first."

"I need to experience what it's like to ride the way you do."

Finn was totally serious as he said this, but some part inside him squealed. This is entirely professional. He needed to do his due diligence before he taught. Being saddled up with this celebrity trainer was a fringe benefit and not the point. Not the point!

Josh Devlin

Did working with Kyle's Raikou-familiar truly count as working with a legendary Pokémon? Josh didn't think so, even though it was physically identical to the real thing. He proved that to himself when he had the Beast floor it with him in the thundercloud saddle. He vividly remembered being simply paralyzed from the maddening pace Hoenn flew past him at. It was unforgettable, but he wasn't sure anything he could do would allow him to handle something like that... not beyond becoming Raikou's Avatar, anyway. He couldn't imagine Raikou's Avatar not having a power that let them withstand the Beast's otherworldly speed.

Finn did a great job hiding his giddiness from Josh; all the Gym Leader noticed was a calm and professional swordmaster in front of him. "Sounds like an exchange of our skills is in order." At the mention of wanting to learn the mounted half of mounted combat, his smile grew. Unlike Finn, Josh made no effort to conceal his excitement. "If you've got a wide open place out back, absolutely, I can show you the ropes!" At the mention, Josh's three big cats and Manectric-masquerading-as-legendary approached Finn. "If you're nervous about riding a big cat and have access to the Pokémon Storage Network, I can send my Gym secretary an email if there's another Pokémon you'd rather learn with. Being a Gym Leader, I have to keep a lot of Pokémon at my Gym back in Mauville." His smile grew to a sly grin. "I have to warn you, though... you better be ready to go fast. My Pokémon are all really fast."

"I have to warn you, though... you better be ready to go fast."

Finn would have melted into the ground if he could. Suddenly, the heat of the sun and the way his steel fighter's crown weighed on his head felt weirdly apparent to him. They felt like foreign superimpositions onto where he was mentally: back on his couch, curled up in his silk nightrobe in the light of his screen.

Yes, please.

"Let's go to our field." Finn gestured broadly and felt the wind inside his sleeves.

***

Finn, Josh and his big beasts stood at the edge of a huge, open field.

Real Josh didn't seem to fray as easily as his AI counterpart, but they both seemed to possess a similar, almost neurotic intensity. Speed truly defined the way his mind and speech worked. His thoughts flashed at lightning speed, shooting out one after another like Bullet Seeds.

Finn tried to look engaged. Actually, he had no idea what was about to happen.

"I've never ridden a quadriped Pokemon before," Finn quipped.

Oh wait, did that make him sound pathetic?

"Mostly only my Gyarados."

Finn pulled his hands out of his kimono's pockets.

"So, what do I have to do?"

Josh Devlin

The field Finn led Josh to was impressive. While it wasn't as impressive as his acres and acres of land behind Mauville Gym, technically just outside city limits, it would suffice for learning mounted combat. Aslan and Simba gently nuzzled Finn as Raikiri gently walked toward the swordmaster at Josh's silent command. There was something empowering about holding the reins of a mythical Pokémon. It didn't match the day he rode Raikou. He longed to be with Kyle again and get another chance to race across the land, but that wouldn't be happening again any time soon, and probably not until they were in danger again, when he'd need to saddle up Raikou to have a meaningful impact in battle.

Josh abruptly reined Raikiri to a stop at Finn's next admission, the Zeraora rolling his eyes at his rider.

"You've never ridden a land Pokémon before? Only a flying Pokémon? You're one of the first people I've ever seen that rode a flying Pokémon before a land Pokémon." Josh was truly puzzled; there was a lot more to riding a flying Pokémon than one on land. The addition of the third dimension piled on an extra layer to any control scheme. "If I knew, I wouldn't have brought all these big cats. Felines are among some of the swiftest Pokémon on land, but they are notorious for having learning curves. Come on, Aslan."

Josh waved for his shiny Pyroar to come to his side. He slid off Raikiri's back, revealing how unique the Zeraora's saddle was. Its design was truly one of a kind, fitted for the mythical electric-type. "Watch me and pay special attention to Aslan's running stroke." He reined the lion toward the opposite end of the field and got ready to take off. "Hyah!" Josh cried as he squeezed the Pyroar's side to enter just barely a gallop. It would have been easily apparent to Finn how much the Gym Leader was bouncing up and down due to the big cat's flexing back, despite a saddle explicitly designed to increase stability.

There was only so much that a saddle could do; a fact of reality was that feline Pokémon flexed their backs sharply to generate the power needed for the high speed chases they were known for. They weren't common mounts for a reason; their bodies were designed to be sleek predators, not steeds for humans. "If you think you can handle that, then you're welcome to get on Simba, or even Blitz, my Luxray. If you can't, then do you have a computer I can use? I can have someone at my Gym return one of my Pokémon to its Poké Ball and transfer it here. Either way, Raikiri is too fast for you to handle. Unless you're feeling really brave, I wouldn't ride him. Trust me. You can, but I wouldn't." It wasn't that Raikiri wasn't willing to let a guest sit on his back and go for a ride. It was the simple matter that the Zeraora had speed that rivaled even some legendary Pokémon known for speed.

Finn scrunched his eyebrows. He wasn't sure why Josh was making such a big deal out of his riding experience. He'd ridden his Gyarados over water and in the sky, and the many large birds that the School had in its nests. How hard could a big cat be? The two Pyroar nuzzling their warm, soft snouts into Finn's sides seemed hospitable enough, too. They made Finn wish he had a big cat of his own.

Deja vu struck when Josh came over to get on top of Aslan. Finn tilted his head downwards ever so slightly, reminded of his video game fantasy as Josh slid one thigh over the side of Aslan's glossy fur. He watched in admiration of Josh's skill as Aslan zipped across the field. It was a rugged ride for sure, and Josh's stability spoke much of his skill. Finn tensed up for a bit; could the cats sense the way his desire shifted the breath in his lungs, the heat under his skin?

"Yeah, that looks good. I'm game."

Simba purred welcomingly as Finn climbed onto him. He tried his best to look like he knew what he was doing - and he did, so far, anyway. This was like climbing on the back of a Pidgeot.

And then, Simba took off. This was where reality diverged from Finn's experience. Simba moved slowly, at first, but his gentle pitter-patter rolled into a rapid gallop and knocked Finn's butt up and down like a drum. Finn's fringe flapped about in the wind like limp grass. His hands gripped rigidly onto the saddle. Still, he kept his jaw up. He refused to look incompetent in front of Josh.

Finn smoothed out his hair as Simba came to a rest beside his trainer.

"I see what you mean now. This ride requires so much work stabilising your core. It's probably harder for us than for the Pokemon." Finn folded his arms, trying not to let on that he could feel his stomach doing flips inside him. "I think I have a good picture of how we can weave sword work into this." What he really meant was: oh god, please let's stop.

Josh Devlin

Josh had warned Finn about the difficulties of riding a big cat, and yet he seemed comfortable with what he saw. The Gym Leader saw Finn get onto Simba's back. "Now keep pace with those two, okay?" he whspered into Aslan's ear. Josh kept a close eye on Finn's posture, especially once the lions' backs really started flexing from their swift run. Josh was impressed with how well the young man maintained his posture; in his mind, Finn clearly had experience with Pokémon!

As Simba sped up to the maximum speed he was comfortable carrying the guest at, Josh noticed the fire Pokémon was bouncing Finn up and down a little higher than normal. That was completely normal when adapting to a land Pokémon. For someone who had allegedly never ridden a land Pokémon before, Finn was talented.

"That's why I recommend canines or equines when you're learning to ride Pokémon. Cats just flex their backs so much that keeping steady on them is hard. It's rewarding, though." He chuckled at Finn's remark about the ride being rougher on the trainer than the Pokémon. "And he was barely running, too." Josh's smile grew to a grin unable to resist demonstrating a full-speed sprint from the lion. "I'll even show you! Aslan, faster! DOUBLE TEAM!"

Aslan ran a big circle around the large field, afterimages of himself trailing behind him. Mid-DOUBLE TEAM, that run could have looked downright violent to a less experienced rider. "Whoo-hoooo!!" Josh whooped as he rounded the corner, making a close pass by Finn to give him an idea of just how fast the lion could run. After a second pass, he slowed the oversized furball to a stop. "Whew!" Josh exhaled, his heart racing as fast as his Pokémon was.

It seemed it was time for Josh's lesson to begin. "Sounds like I'll have to get used to reining my Pokémon around with just my off hand, huh?" he asked.

Clones of Josh and Aslan encircled Finn like a dizzying merry-go-round. Some part of him thought of egging Josh on, perhaps even putting Simba's own Double Team to the test, but this was enough excitement for one day. Finn squinted and shook his head, and then laughed weakly.

"Alright, I get the idea."

Finn slipped off Simba's back. The grass and soil felt wonderful and whole underneath his shoes. He put up a hand, his first two fingers slightly straighter than the rest, as if to get Josh's attention and to stabilise himself.

No more being a fool for a cute boy that wasn't even real. It was time to become Master Flying Sword. Josh had more than shown Finn his skill and his blistering speed. What Finn wanted to know was if Josh dashed so quickly that the only way for him to swerve was to crash.

"You're skilled, Josh. You're the fastest person I know." A light wind breezed over them, changing Finn's motion-sick expression into a sage smile.

"But to wield a sword requires more than speed. It also needs you to be still."

Gently, like a Swanna stretching its fine neck to drink, Finn plucked a long blade of grass off the ground.

"Hold this in front of you for a minute. Breathe, but hold on to its reins; don't let the blade move. If you succeed, we start training tomorrow."

To be so still that even heaven and earth can't move you, as light as the air itself - a sword can only be slashed well by a mind that turns clear as a flower.

Josh Devlin

Josh smiled, even blushed a little at Finn's comment about his speed. While he wasn't the Fastest in Hoenn (that title would go to Isaac Merlo ), he was certainly a contender to retake that title every year. The swordmaster then made a remark about how wielding a blade required one to be still. "Even mounted? That makes little--" He stopped himself from finishing that sentence. Josh was the speed expert, and Finn was the sword expert. He had passed the basics of his art down to Finn. Now it was the Gym Leader's turn to be the student.

Whether Finn meant a minute as in sixty seconds or an undisclosed amount of time, Josh was at least willing to try. He took the uprooted blade of grass from Finn, held Aslan's reins with only his off hand, moved the blade of grass up to his eye level and stared at it, then started counting to sixty in his head. At first, the only movement from the blade of grass was from the subtle shuffling of his lion mount's feet. Could he hold it as long as Finn was requesting?

As the world around Finn's head came to a steady pause, so did time itself tighten like a pulling spool in Josh's eyes. The tip of that blade of grass came into focus as intense as the head of a pin. The grass almost seemed to gleam. Finn studied Josh's expression like a painter, trying to gaze beyond his face and look into his mind.

The grass comes into focus, the world around dissolves into light, and as the world falls away, the mind grows in its luminous horizons.

Finn would never know how the thoughts inside Josh's head connected, nor if he truly experienced that same sort of meditational openness that Finn had. Nobody would ever know how someone's mind worked; life was an endless game of inference, a chain of guesses based on what we saw and heard. The thing was, Josh was willing to at least give it a go. From that, Finn's guess was - this would be a worthy endeavour.

As a minute passed, Finn plucked the leaf from Josh's fingers, releasing it from the grip of the man's gaze.

"We can start training next week. I hope you're ready to pick up a sword." Finn's light smile left no guesses. He was happy to bring Josh into the school.

Josh Devlin

Josh exhaled deeply when Finn announced he would be admitted to the school. "I've got a little experience with a Doublade, but she is... no longer of this world. She passed on late last year. I'm still searching for a Honedge or Doublade to succeed her. Nothing will replace Yagyu, though. We knew each other so well. Even once I catch another one, training her to fight while in my hand is going to be... an ordeal."

Simba sounded a gentle purr and raised his right front paw, waving toward Finn as his way to thank him for his guidance on the run. "I'll see you next week, then! I'll keep an eye out for emails from your school, too." With that, the Gym Leader reined his Zeraora away from the school and back to Fortree proper.