Finn never really liked fishing. Sitting still for so long was tough - he needed something to do.

"I'm more of an active person. I'd rather swim than fish."

But Finn was curious about what his unplanned companion saw in this. He seemed at peace with the process and his surroundings. Slow ripples lapped across the surface of the water.

"Why do you enjoy about fishing?"

A dark wind brewed at the edge of the wood where a leafy spectre stood. Finn narrowed his eyes and spotted a rush of white hair, hands made of leaves sharp enough to slice the soul. Finn aimed a Pokeball right at its hooked nose, looking to add the Shiftry to his party. He would be an excellent guardian spirit for Flying Sword Woods.

THEO BECKETT

Finn attempts capturing the Shiftry!

Finn could understand Elise to some degree. He might have had the crown of Flying Sword thrust upon him to some degree, but it was a weight he bore with gladness. Still, he could see how, in cases like Elise's, her cousin would shy from that responsibility. If it felt heavy to run a school and village, imagine an entire kingdom. The number of people who depended on you for survival. An entire society revolving around the decisions you make.

"I wish you and your relatives the best. May the head that wears the crown do so with peace and nobility."

As the two of them walked past a candy kiosk, Finn slid some coins onto the seller's counter and picked up two candy apples. One for himself, and one for the real person of royalty.

"To our kingdoms," he said, warm and cheerful like the lights around them.

@elisekurokawa

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

A powerful gust blew Finn's perfectly spiked hair into a mess, but Finn wasn't mad at all. Looking upwards, his eyes half shut to shield him from the whipping wind, he marvelled at the Braviary descending upon the space.

Finn whistled in admiration. "Nice bird!"

"My birds are back home, but I like a good dive through the sky too." Finn enjoyed a good dive through the sky on the backs of their bigger birds. Flying Sword School, as its name suggested, hosted a good number of Flying-types. He appreciated a strong, well-raised raptor. Its strength spoke to the quality of its trainer, too.

Alexei Ivanov

SKIP!

HARVESTING

be sure to visit the pretty petal flower shop near rustboro!

1X tamato

2x grepa

Finn grinned almost giddily. He had not had so much fun in such a long time. 

"Come and get it."

Finn beckoned Isaac forward, and the duel started. Finn played defensive most of the time, bringing his forearms to his face to shield and block off Isaac's blows, only throwing out a jab here and there to keep Isaac fresh and on his toes. Finn wasn't going to make it easy, but he didn't want it to be hard either. A teacher's responsibility: tasks should just be hard enough. Yet, Finn soon realised he didn't need to worry at all. Isaac gave as good as he got, even in the harsh rain and wind.

Now, Finn had Isaac sandwiched between himself and Bawang's horn, blocking off the path down to Bawang's spine with his broad open stance. But did Finn put up too difficult a fight? Isaac made an uncharacteristic gamble of an offensive move and took a step too far off Bawang's head. Finn's eyes widened - Isaac was going to fall.

"No!"

That's why he'd shaped the fight to get Isaac in that position. Pressed up against Bawang's horn, Isaac was safe.

Finn lunged over to seize Isaac by his drenched collar, tugging him back with impressive strength. Only then, as Isaac rebounded with stunning speed and a few well placed blows to Finn's joints, did he realise that he'd been had.

"Oof!" Caught totally off guard by this impressive Feint Attack, Finn struggled against Isaac's grip, but the man already had the upper hand. Finn tried to push his strength into his legs to try and flip himself upright, but Isaac had the nerves in his arm stretched and twisted into submission.

Finn's face pressed against the rain pooling on Bawang's ridges, but he still managed to grin as he relinquished his grip on his crown.

Bawang bellowed mournfully and the rain parted to let the sun in again.

As the crowd cheered, Bawang lowered his head to the ground, letting Finn and Isaac slide back onto the square. Shaking off that armbar and the rain from out his hair, Finn's cheeks flushed red like Cherrim flowers in full bloom. In his gut, he knew that Isaac would be a student to be proud of.

"Welcome to the School, Isaac. From today on, address me as Master Flying Sword." He offered Isaac his hand, looking forward to seeing how much stronger, swifter and clearer this promising young man would become.

Isaac Merlo

Finn examined the man who'd called out to him. He wasn't sure how to read his comment. Was he genuinely just asking out of curiosity, or to make small talk? Or was this a subtle cue that he didn't appreciate Finn scaring off fish by jumping in?

"Mmm, just enjoying the sun for now."

And it seemed he wasn't the only one with that thought. A gorgeous Altaria peeked out from a nearby tree, looking like a slice of the clouds itself.

Finn's response to the bloke might have been a stalling reply, but now he really just wanted to bask around in the sun for a while.

The Altaria whistled a sweet trilling melody. Finn put his palms to his mouth and responded in kind. He'd learned birdsong as a child and made friends with the birds in Flying Sword's aviaries. Curiously, the Altaria drifted downwards like a celestial creature and came to a halt at arm's length, its long crown feathers floating like ribbons of paint in water.

"We could sing together." Finn reached down to pick an empty ball out from his shirt on the grass and held it up to the Altaria.

"How goes the fishing?" Finn asked, turning back to the man.

CAPTURE ATTEMPT - ALTARIA!

THEO BECKETT

Finn could start to see tiny flowers budding from the plants!