[Agate Valyn]

Three Pokemons... that's the amount that Agate going to train... From the biggest to smallest, there are Mithril the Arcielan Noctowl... and then Hauyne the Aerodactyl... finally, towering over most of them all is Randgris the Corviknight. The armored corvid crowed at her trainer. She's... humongous... Agate is sure that if he rides this Pokemon It'll take more than just simple tumble for him to get dismounted. Oh by the way, it's not just a simple training today. For Mithril the Arcielan Noctowl and Hauyne the Aerodactyl, indeed that it was a simple flight training... but for Randgris? It's also a training for her to carrying something with her. Items that Agate have, and there are also secured boxes for eggs. The Corviknight is currently having all of that strapped on her.

"Alright everyone, you know the drill... First step is to hover, or keeping altitude. We'll be starting with you first, Mithril!" Mithril, at 240 centimeter in height is very big for an owl shaped Pokemon. His white feathers reminds Agate of snowy tundra. Agate get on top the Noctowl to let him to feel his weight.

"Is it too much, Mithril?" he asked. The Noctowl however, turned his head around to reply with a hoot, as if saying that it's fine for him. Good. Now time to take the skies. "Try to flap your wings and take off, after that let's stay on certain altitude..."

When it comes to saddle riding a bird... Agate isn't sure what to do... It's different from handling a riding Pokemon. The steer are.. stick or sort? He guess he can pull it for ascending, push it down to descend, turn lean or right to turn to the desired direction? For the meantime, he pulled the control stick up, and as expected, Mithril began his ascent... now let's see how well he is.

---

WC: 302/1000
cxsAM_0_p_/100

Party:
Mithril the Arcielan Noctowl
Hauyne the Aerodactyl
Randgris the Corviknight
Ralts Egg x3 (6/10)

[Josh Devlin]

After drying off from the aquatic training course nearby, Josh had learned that putting gear on Resheph would help him hold on - slipping off those slick scales in water was one thing, but in the air would be another. He made his way to the aerial training course that was right next door, seeing Agate training with Mithril. Deciding that trailing the Noctowl would be a good way to get the Dragonair used to flying with Josh, she floated above the starting line. Controlling her in the air wouldn't be too much different than underwater, in theory. He squeezed the dragon-type's sides to coax her into flight. "Alright, Resheph, let's--"

Josh immediately flipped his visor down then clutched tightly with both hands - holy Arceus was she fast! It made sense, though - there was a lot resistance in the air than underwater. The ground shrunk beneath the two as Resheph gracefully rose thirty feet into the air, to where the highest-level ring course was. The course was more strict than a Federation aerial course - those merely had signs indicating mandatory flight paths. The excited dragon swirled and swished through the air, Josh unable to help but let out a panicked scream as his mount seemed all too eager to direct the pace of their flight.

---

hxo5MZKwp_

{WC: 214/1000}
{Pt; 72/80}

[Agate Valyn]

Man, Josh ain't doing too hot over there huh... Agate winced as he saw the older trainer flying wildly thanks to the Dragonair. Speaking of Dragonair, they're rather... interestingly shaped somehow... He wonder how would it feel to ride something that's practically like a... flying noodle? If that could be called that? Does it feels like riding a broom? Josh... definitely will have a hard time with that noodle. Hmmm, should he gave chase?

"Mithril, do what you think is wise," Agate told the Pokemon, who let out a hoot. If he recalls it correctly...

"Air Slash!" he ordered the Pokemon. The Arcielan Noctowl immediately let out a rotating sphere made out of air... but of course they didn't aim it at Josh or Resheph, but straight ahead. The idea? To displace air surrounding them. Agate ordered the Noctowl to follow the wind closely, and the vacuum left behind by the attack quickly closed, and in turn boosting the speed of the Noctowl.

Agate admitted that it was perhaps too fast for him, because suddenly the Noctowl going at triple his speed for a bit while. It's difference from Agility or Quick Attack... and definitely not as stable as Brave Bird. Yikes! But even then, he should be able to easily turn around and finish his training soon for the Noctowl. Just gotta make that turn... through that ring... then another, then another... and finally, an aerial salvo here...

---

XCdzZGSvp_
[137/100] -PASS-
Ralts Egg x3: 7/10

[Josh Devlin]

Josh was able to quickly adapt to the speed, though - once they got airborne, Resheph's slithering and swishing body wasn't too hard to hold onto. He quickly found the easiest way to control Resheph's direction was to apply pressure with his hands, almost like he was a living rudder for her. The only difference was she seemed to be a lot more responsive in the air than in the water - at one of Josh's commands, she ended up turning far too tightly to fly through the next ring, Josh grunting at how tight the turn was.

For flying Pokémon, this one in particular, he thought about investing in a cocoon saddle - one that wrapped around his legs completely. While it would completely prevent him from falling off his Pokémon, there were two big drawbacks. The first was it would render him almost completely immobile and make it more difficult to issue silent commands with his legs, not to mention it would make emergency dismounts take a lot of extra time from having to undo the cocoon portion. The second was cost - they were nearly triple the cost of regular tack due to being made out of far more material. For some Pokémon, though, it was almost mandatory.

Thankfully for him, Resheph was a smart Pokémon, able to compensate almost instantly when she felt Josh was going to lose his balance. With a less intelligent flying-type, such as Bladestorm, he very well could have lost his balance. Speaking of which, Bladestorm started knocking on the inside of her Poké Ball while Resheph was still weaving around and through the course's many rings. "You'll get your chance soon," Josh mumbled, though the Skarmory probably couldn't hear him.

---

mwrz6PVXp_

Mod note: Resheph flight certified. Please do not close - we both have more Pokémon.

{WC: 289; 503/1000}
{Pt: 165/80 - PASS}

[Jae]

Noctowl and Dragonair are now flight trained.

[Agate Valyn]

"Hauyne, get over here!" Agate called out his Aerodactyl, who immediately took off from the ground to meet him midair. The Aerodactyl is huge, although still shorter than the Corviknight. Once he aligned the Noctowl and the Aerodactyl, Agate pretty much jumped from the former to the latter, landing with a "thud" due to how hard the Aerodactyl's body is. Oof. He quickly grabbed the handle and stabilized himself on top of the massive fossil Pokemon.

"Whew... Alright, Hauyne! How are you doing? Time for us to check how good you are in handling someone being on your back like this. I dunno if you like someone beside me on your back like this... but for the meantime we have to get you used to fly with a passenger on, alright? Hmmm, let's see... You're far more stable than Mithril. I wonder if it's because your size? But Mitrhil's characteristic is his sharp eyesight... as for you... well, we'll see what kind of abilities do you have, Hauyne!"

The Aerodactyl screeched in agreement. For the meantime the basic training is to see how well he glides, and how long can he do it before needing to flap his wings... Could Hauyne keep his cool with Agate on his back? Or will he fail the test? Let's see...

---

cE7nkqLgp_ / 100
217/1000
Ralts Egg x3: 8/10

[Josh Devlin]

Once he made one more lap around the course, Josh seemed confident in his ability to control Resheph, but not to hold onto her slippery scales. As much as it hurt in the wallet, he was going to invest in a cocoon saddle for the dragon, especially if he was going to enter her in aerial races.

The racer swapped out Resheph for Bladestorm, ready to tackle the same ring course with a different Pokémon. The Skarmory gave Josh a blank, almost creepy stare all the way until the point he climbed aboard the metal menace. His skin tingled as she spread her bladed wings and took to the air, angling the blades in varying directions to adjust her pitch.

After clanging off two rings, Josh thought it better to see how the Skarmory would control. Swooping around the course's perimeter a few times taught him that it wasn't much unlike a land Pokémon, except for pushing forward and pulling back to control pitch. Yaw would be as simple as making a turn, and leg pressure to control speed would be just like any land Pokémon. This might end up being a lot easier than he thought!

Agate Valyn

4B8f6BzQp_

{WC: 200/1000}
{Pt: 74/80}

[Agate Valyn]

Hauyne is doing well. He's sure that he could easily teach Hauyne gliding better than Randgris or Mithril. Hauyne's style of flight might be the best for long range flight which need him to conserve his stamina, which, all thing considered... pretty useful through route 3 and 5, or a long flight that requires them a long but stable flight in where they don't need to be fast. Of course being fast is nice, but that's probably Randgris' role.

"Hauyne, we'lll see how good you are on aerial acrobatics!"

Hauyne might have passed the test on aerial stability, but what about acrobatics? First to train him on Aileron Roll through a ring. it's... a bit hard admittedly. It's harsh toward someone who doesn't have that strong grip. Agate thankfully have strong enough grip to hang on as the Pokemon spun as it gets through the ring. Aileron Roll is probably good enough for the meantime... but what about Barrel Roll? Thankfully there are enough floating rings which made Agate lead the Aerodactyl there. The first ring was easy enough, then the second step, ascending... and the moment they almost reached the top, that's when Agate noticed that it's probably going to be hard to hang on while Hauyne descends... harder than the Aileron Roll? He'll see.

r_k|XzPlp_ + 69/100

Ralts Egg: 9/10

[Josh Devlin]

Bladestorm was listening to every command Josh gave. Whatever pride she had, she shelved while learning how to coordinate with a rider. Every turn, whether it be up, down, left, or right, she executed just as Josh shifted his weight. It may not have been as Josh intended, but that was likely just the two of them getting used to each other. The two entered the same ring course Resheph had flown Josh through, her wing tips clanging against one side of the metal rings on occasion. For the most part, though, Josh seemed to get the idea. Control was more sensitive than with a diving water Pokémon, but it wasn't too much different.

Once he finished a lap around the course with the Skarmory, Josh pulled up on her, getting her to fly well above the course. "Let's try flying faster!" The steel-type adjusted the angle of her wings and let gravity do the rest of the work, the two entering a shallow, spiraling dive to pick up speed before leveling out just above the ring course. Josh wanted to let out a cry, but he was not at all used to the extra G's. He had heard about this being a problem for aerial racers, but reading about it and experiencing it were totally different things!


A|oyOZ9cp_

{WC: 419/1000}
{Pt: 83/80 - PASS}

Mod note: This was Josh's last Pokémon. I think Agate has more, though.

Mod note 2: Please submit rewards for Josh only - I will be leaving this thread.

[Jenesis]

Congratulations!

Your thread is complete and now locked.

Josh Devlin

For completing the Flight Training quest, you receive 150 pen, 3 Rare Candies, and the ability to fly on the back of Bladestorm the Skarmory.

Agate Valyn

You may continue your training.