Gym Leader Josh Devlin and several of his water Pokémon were lined up near the starting line of Sector 2's Drift Waterway, on the east-central side of the Racing Grounds. Even by Pokémon ride, it took a few minutes to get there from the rear exit. All of the aquatic Pokémon looked so friendly: there were Keiga the Kingdra, Ulysses the Dewgong, Illumina the Lanturn, Megalo the Milotic, and Resheph the Dragonair, among others. The Gym Leader himself sat off the course's edge, ready to iand in the saddle of a Barraskewda named Ripley. Most of the Pokémon swimming around were quite large for the kind; Kairi the Vaporeon was the stand-out among them. A Vaporeon big enough to wear a saddle had to be quite the sight.

"Knight Naito ?" Josh asked as he dipped his toes into the water. "Glad to see you. Gym Leader Devlin, but please, call me Josh. Really wondering where the rest of our group is. The rest of the class is with my other trainers. Disappointed to see so many no-call no-shows."

Knight's excitement was contagious. After all, it wasn't every day that one got to get riding lessons from perhaps Hoenn's most talented Pokémon racer! Ulysses clapped his fins together in excitement, splashing some water over the course's artificial bank. "Great to meet you, Knight," Josh replied, offering a handshake to the young man. "Seems like no one else is coming. You'll get private lessons from the best, it seems!" Perhaps that wasn't the best thing to say; the lad might burst from excitement and scare his Pokémon with a sudden motion.

Josh noticed Knight's interest in the large, aquatic Eeveelution. "Of course you can! Her name's Kairi," he introduced the Vaporeon. "There's an entire rainbow of them her size on the grounds, but she's obviously the only one who is a proficient swimmer." The questions continued, though the most important one appeared to be how to choose an aquatic steed.

"The most important factor when picking one is your own build. You'll have more options if you're lighter. If you're a more stout build, you'll want a Pokémon that can more easily bear your weight. Second, you'll want to make sure it's a Pokémon you can comfortably sit on, of course. All the ones there are good choices," he pointed toward the line of Pokémon just past the course walls. "Kairi is a good choice, as well, but it's pretty rare for Vaporeon to grow so large. You have to know where to look."

The story behind Kairi's origins was a simple yet complex one. These kinds of Pokémon existed before, though they were mostly the product of expensive and time-consuming breeding. Since Space-Time Distortions started showing up in Hoenn, large Pokémon like Kairi were more commonplace. It was a good thing for Josh, but these Pokémon, once called Alphas where they came from, were difficult to tame. "Like I said, she's one of eight. If you get through the material quickly, maybe we can pay her seven cousins a visit," Josh half-taunted Knight. His favorite of the eight was Blinky the Jolteon. Unlike the rest of his Eeveelutions, he had the giant electric-type prior to the Distortions popping up everywhere.

Ah, so Knight was a completely fresh slate. No idea what he wanted. That was how some of the best relationships formed. It was a sign that he would be a very well-rounded trainer with no critical weaknesses to speak of. Those who overspecialized had significant weaknesses. Those were weaknesses that took months, even years of study and practice to learn how to fight. There were entire books on battling in a Trick Room, and Josh had read many of them from cover to cover. "You have a really good attitude for someone so young and fresh," Josh remarked. "You'll go far in whatever you do, whether it be the Gym circuit, as a Ranger, or whatever career path you take. I do want to make a suggestion, though. Among your team, I would recommend a Pokémon that can carry you over land, one over sea, and one through the sky. If you have all three, there's nowhere in Hoenn you can't go."

As much as Knight eyed Kairi, Josh wasn't quite ready to approve him to hop in the saddle yet. "Before I answer that, I want to ask you: what kind of Pokémon do you want to learn with? One that's strong? One that's really fast? One that is good at turning? I might be able to narrow it down for you based on that."

Not too fast and not too strong, yet had great reflexes... those were a lot of constraints. There was one Pokémon perfect for it. "How about you give Ulysses a try? He's my most beginner-friendly water Pokémon," Josh answered. The Dewgong was quite big, and that tail looked like it could produce a lot of thrust. Even so, Dewgong were a fairly common aquatic mount. How hard could it be?

Provided Knight agreed, Josh would whistle for the Dewgong to swim toward the near end of the course. "Just sit on the edge of the wall and drop into his saddle. He can handle it." The other way to get on a purely aquatic water Pokémon involved swimming. Sure, Ulysses could also travel by sliding on ice, but there was rarely permafrost in Hoenn, usually around Shoal Cave.

"I learned to ride Pokémon when I was a teenager," Josh answered. "First learned with a Manectric: a Pokémon I've had since I was ten. Maybe you'll get to see him on the way out. I try to keep the electric-types away from Sector 2 because... well, water and electricity don't mix." Josh made sure Knight was okay before getting ready to land in Ripley's saddle himself. While the Barraskewda had amazing speed, that propeller-tail allowed both of them precise control over that speed. They could keep pace with however fast Knight wanted to go.

"It's this way for any Pokémon, but especially with land ones. Riding requires a strong core," Josh explained. "It takes your thighs some getting used to, as well. But believe me when I say it's worth your while. The freedom of being able to go anywhere you want... it's so liberating."

The Dewgong again clapped his fins together as Josh slid into place astride Ripley the Barraskewda, submerging more than when Knight took a seat on Ulysses. The Pokémon's blubber was not only warm, but it was buoyant, too. Though he could swim underwater, it took more effort than most Pokémon. Completely underwater riding was a totally different beast than surface swimming. Not wanting to overwhelm the student was part of his motivation for picking the water and ice Pokémon for his first experience.

"I still remember my tenth birthday party vividly, and the day I caught my first Pokémon with him," he briefly reminisced. "You might see a Pidgeot flying over the Gym Grounds. That's Pazuzu, the first Pokémon I caught myself. It was one of the happiest days of my childhood, the day I went south of Goldenrod to catch him. But that's a story for another time."

Once both of them were lined up next to each other, Josh could show Knight how to control a reined Pokémon. "Hold the reins in your hands like this," the teacher gestured with them. "This is your steering wheel. Think of it like pulling on the handlebars of a bike. Pull with your left hand if you want to make a left turn, and with your right for a right turn. The harder you pull, the sharper he'll turn."

That was only half of the basics. The other half was important too. "Leg pressure is how you control speed. That's like your gas pedal. If you squeeze his sides, he'll go faster. The harder you do so, the faster he'll accelerate. If you want to slow down, you can either loosen your leg grip on him, or pull back on the reins with both your hands at the same time. And that's all there is to it! Simple, huh?" There was a little more to it than that, but maneuvers like jumping and sprinting were beyond the scope of a 101 course. "Lead the way!"

Josh remained silent, watching Ulysses paddle through the water with just his front fins. He wasn't even moving his tail - just letting it drag behind him. Despite going about as slow as the sea lion was capable of, Knight looked like he was on the wildest carnival ride in the world, hooting and hollering. It brought Josh to the first time he sat in the saddle of any Pokémon. It was just as thrilling and freeing as Knight made it out to be.

With a squeeze to Ripley's sides, the Barraskewda's tail began to hum, Josh and the water-type zipping around Ulysses and Knight before returning to their side again. "Fun, isn't it! Those are the only two basics you need to know. It really is that easy." After the two rounded three similar corners, there was a long and straight channel for Pokémon to go all out. "Try going a bit faster!" he half-goaded Knight.

Perhaps Josh swimming circles around Knight gave the student the courage to pick up the pace. When commanded to speed up, Ulysses stopped paddling with his flippers and instead swished his tail up and down for thrust. As Josh guided his Barraskewda to match the Dewgong's pace, he, too, felt the wind against his face, not having lowered his helmet's visor. He loved the feeling of the wind in his face when riding at lower speeds, but having a windshield was necessary when going truly fast.

Josh's smile grew alongside Knight's confidence, the young rider without a doubt able to feel every stroke of Ulysses' long and thick tail. Their pace was enough that Ripley's propeller-tail began to hum from how fast it was whirling. "You're catching on!" he complimented Knight. "It really as simple as driving a vehicle. Your reins are your steering wheel, and your leg grip is your gas pedal. This is more economical than driving, you get to build rapport with your Pokémon... and riding is just plain fun!" With how much he zipped around Hoenn, the Gym Leader had forgotten how relaxing a leisurely-paced trail ride could be.