Isaac's words left a lot unsaid, and that's what the swordsman was trying to pin down. Finn scanned Isaac, his eyes sharp like a Fearow's break. The pauses, the spaces between his words, concealed thoughts like screens. The blade of Finn's mind pressed against them, testing for a break.

"If you're talking about rowdy, Zev is more than capable of training you himself." Finn spoke without heat, but his words were clipped and sharp.

But, as Finn taught his students to do, he took a step out of himself to look at his mind from an observer's point. Yes, Zev burst into the school and wouldn't take no for an answer - but he was Finn's student now. And Zev wasn't Isaac. If anything, Isaac seemed aware of how... Intense - the word Isaac had used after mentally browsing a list of much plainer descriptions - his... Coworker was.

Seems like a lot was left open to future discovery. But if Isaac was to get thrown out of the gates, he should earn it on his own terms, and not by association. And so, too, for his entrance.

Finn loosened up and the air around him changed. He was being, or was trying to be, open to new possibilities.

"That's why Zev wants you to learn. Why do you want to learn?"

Isaac Merlo

A real princess? No. Finn scrutinised Elise's expression, waiting for her to let up - but she seemed every inch as serious as Finn was when he cast his facade aside.

Wait, really? Oh, no.

Finn's eyebrows danced through this range of thoughts and finally settled on a strong downward curve. Disbelief and embarrassment spun about each other in his head. He grinned sheepishly and pressed his fingers to the side of his head, nudging his headpiece askew.

"Oh, you're real!" Finn wheezed. He didn't even know monarchies even existed anymore.

"Yes, we can teach you how to use a sword. But we can't host an army... And we don't really need to learn how to manage a kingdom." Finn threw in a nervous chuckle. Children giggled as they dashed past their robes, skewers and clouds of candy floss in hand.

"Wait, so do you just live in Hoenn now? Don't you have to, you know, run a country?" Finn asked with curious weight. This was even more interesting than the make-believe personas they held - although Elise was hardly ever pretending.

Elise Calcifet

"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

This young man pulled up a bright smile in a slick, sure way. Finn stopped to wonder where he'd seen this before, but kept his thoughts to himself. Outwardly, he stood poised as a Swellow.

So, he wanted to know about training. Finn smiled gently and waved a robed hand at the trainees behind him. Some did static bodyweight exercises, some sparred with wooden swords. Grunts and honest laughter peppered the crisp air. Finn's fringe flickered in the wind.

"This is where you'd begin. Our neophytes train up their basics in the outer courts, and those who wish to dive deeper work inwards into the school."

Flying Sword School was a great place to progress if you knew where you stood, the rites of decorum and honour. Thoughts about his recent recruitment misadventure faded away as he listened to the young man speak. He seemed bright, eager to learn. He'd heard about them from someone he had to think twice about calling a friend. Finn's eyebrow raised by a hair's width. Who would provoke such doubt?

And it hit him.

Even though he kept his face as restrained as possible, Finn felt like a Swellow struck by a Thunderbolt. So that was where he had seen this performance before.

"Harcourt."

Finn had to take a calming breath.

"And what did he tell you about why you might be a good fit for us?"

This was not a good fit for people like Zev. Finn let him in because he won on a technicality. If this man was anything like him, Finn wouldn't hesitate to throw him out like he wished he could have with Zev. Finn braced his core. Anything could happen now. Maybe he would throw his elbow into Finn's face.

Isaac Merlo

Finn examined the situation. How might be get across to the other side without causing a ruckus that scared away all the fish? Best mot to surf over on his Gyarados; a swim would warm him up well for the climb.

So, Finn started kicking off his fanged shoes when the familiar rustling of wild Pokemon interrupted his routine. Turning around in case he needed to defend himself, he saw that a cute Impidimp and Numel had rolled out into the open. They seemed harmless enough. And honestly, something about the other man made Finn think that he didn't need defending. Once the Pokemon settled down, Finn continued kicking his shoes and shirt off, prepping himself for the swim.

SKIP!

THEO BECKETT

Treecko sat down beside Finn and they watched the sun set together. It was nice to have a new friend.

PURCHASING/REDEEMING

welcome to the poké mart!

2X pokeball (40 PD)
1X type 3 evo (50 PD)

TOTAL

do come again!

90 PD

Something was happening! Stirred by the sound of rustling leaves, Finn looked up from watching his perspiration seep into the soil. A little Treecko had ventured into the garden in search for a snack!

"Haha, you're out of luck," Finn chuckled dryly. "We're all waiting too." Treecko looked up at Finn with its huge reptile eyes. Finn wondered what he was saying - was he saying Finn was a lousy gardener?

If so, he agreed.

"What about you stay here for a little while?" Finn asked gently. "We can share the berries once they've grown." And so, he nudged a Pokeball towards the Treecko's snout.

Something small bumped into the side of Finn's float. Turning to his side, Finn saw a little Clamperl butting its head into him, like it was mad that Finn had waded into its territory. This was a spunky mollusc - didn't it see the huge Gyarados just underneath them?

Finn must get this brave Clamperl for himself.

Gyarados opened its mouth and swallowed it up, and Finn lobbed a Pokeball in between its jaws!

Finnegan is pushing himself to try out more nature-related hobbies apart from taking walks in the Fortree woods. So, today, he finds himself here on the outside of Meteor Falls, fitted out with his gloves and fanged boots. He is going to climb the Falls' rock walls.

And, if he screws up, Kirlia can teleport him to safety anyways.

Finn approaches the watery base of the Falls and stumbles upon someone who didn't look like he wanted to be disturbed. Hmm - how is he going to get across the small lake to the other side, especially on a Gyarados, without scaring away all of the fish?

OOC: THEO BECKETT - I'm gonna post in modding!

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

"Down. Down. Down."

Like a soldier inspecting his troops, Finn strode with weight and momentum down the rows of students doing push-ups on the main square. His emerald kimono billowed behind him, a lone speck of green in a slate grey field, as he paced past one trainee struggling to get himself off the floor.

"Clench your core and use your back." Finn's tone was firm, measured but somehow encouraging, like the weight of a cool river rock in your hand. He bent down to place a finger gently in the centre of the flailing student's upper back, right where he should feel that contraction, and braced him by the side as the trainee finally lifted his torso off the ground with a laboured grunt.

"Well done."

If you listened closely, you could hear the smile in his voice.

Despite his tough exterior, Finn was an understanding and fair teacher, but some students truly tested his resolve to be fair and professional. Zev, a recent addition to the school, was one such person. When Finn told Zev that he'd admit him if he managed to snag his glass off his palm, he expected chasing, snatching and agility... not being choked until his vision faded.

Luckily, Zev had already come in for the week.

As Finn made to push his knee off the square, he saw a new face emerge from the school's main gate. There was no way of missing him - he wore a patch on one eye, something none of Finn's current students wore.

"Class, break up into pairs for drills."

Yes, Master!

As his students dispersed like a flock of Taillow, Finn walked up to the young man to examine him closely. He seemed somewhat lost and expectant, just like Zev did when he wandered in on that fateful day.

"Can I help you?"

Isaac Merlo

The sun got hotter. Wearing just his workout pants, Finnegan sweated buckets as he tilled the ground and pulled out weeds from the soil.