“Umapyoi! Umapyoi! UuuuMa! UuuuMa!”

  Nina could barely hold back her cringe at the nonsensical words coming out of her mouth.

  But she could see, in the mirror, the reflection of a jovial Kerry having the best time of her life, prancing around and making horse-like poses with a beaming smile on her face. And that was enough for Nina to suck it up and endure.

  “Excellent! Bravo, Miss Joy! Never have I seen a brighter star! Are you sure you don’t want to consider a career in showbiz? I have quite a few contacts who would love to sign with a girl as talented as you. Imagine! The first ever idol Joy!” Their dance teacher exclaimed.

  “Hehe. You’re very kind ma’am but I am very sure. My calling lies in the healing of Pokemon. But thank you for the offer.”

  “Oh my! Talented and noble to boot! Woe is the world that will never come to know of your brilliance!”

  Kerry giggled some more at the thick slab of verbal butter being slathered all over her.

  “And Miss Jones… as one would expect from the Cerulean Gym’s most prided young talent, you picked up the choreography remarkably well. Absolutely immaculate movements! However, your performance lacks soul, my dear. Put some heart into it! Especially in your singing! It’s Umapyoi! Not umapyoi. Imagine a Rapidash galloping in the wind. Be the Rapidash!”

  Nina held back her groans and just nodded with some empty platitudes.

  ***

  “Urgh! Finally!” Nina whined as she threw herself onto the bare back of Mihono Bourbon, revelling in his soothing embers and the powerful pulse of his heartbeat.

  “I wanna run, Bourbon… Let the winds blow away my misery.”

  “RaAaAa…” With a sympathetic neigh, the stallion broke out into a light gallop around his pen. Once again, his rhythmic hoofwork suffused Nina’s mind and lulled her into a soothing calm.

  The rider and her Pokemon companion ran and ran, getting faster and faster with each step until they eventually made it out onto an open field where they were joined by the sounds of lighter pattering to their side.

  Nina giggled. “Hey there, Ricey. Wanna join us on our little run?”

  “TaAaAa~”

  Rice Shower did a cute little hop in affirmation and pranced around Mihono Bourbon who huffed in amusement and gave the Ponyta a little nuzzle.

  Nina smiled at the sight. It took a while for Rice to warm up to strangers. But once she did, she was exceedingly friendly.

  “Hehe… Alright guys, we have a few minutes before Mr Imanami comes calling. So let’s go for a light jog to warm up shall we?”

  Both Pokemon neighed in affirmation and broke out into the expansive grasslands in a surge of flames.

  “WOOOHOOOO!!!”

  Nina hollered. The sense of freedom from running through an empty field like this was unmatched. The rustling of grass, the dull thud of the ground beneath her, the friction of the wind and the lush green scenery blurring past.

  Not to mention the smells; the musky scent of Bourbon’s immaculate coat, that of oiled leather and crackling firewood, the floral pollen of spring and the smell of earth every time his hooves dug into the ground.

  It was sublime. A wholly different experience from soaring through the skies. Nina wished she could live in this moment forever and thought; “Maybe. Just maybe… Being a horse girl ain’t so bad. So long as it doesn’t involve dancing around while singing horse themed jingles in front of millions of people…”

  She felt like she could finally relate to what some of the horse obsessed women of her past life were talking about. Surely the thrill they referred to was this sense of freedom, and definitely not the glazed look on their faces every time they spoke of a warm ecstasy shooting through their groins. Surely not.

  The trio continued on their leisurely stride until Kerry pulled up on her mare to call them back for the day’s training.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  ***

  “Hey Bourbon… What’s wrong?”

  After a few laps around the track, Nina abruptly got off her Rapidash to check on him. She could tell that Bourbon’s rhythm was off — an irate, discordant beat lurking beneath his usually flawless symphony.

  “RaAaAa…” The Rapidash let out an assuring neigh and nuzzled against the girl to signal that he was alright.

  But he wasn’t. A few steps in and Nina could make out a light quiver in one of his forelegs. By placing a hand against the affected thigh, she could feel a slight twitch in the Rapidash’s hamstring. Almost like spasms — a topic which she was intimately familiar with by this point.

  “Did we overwork you maybe…?” Nina mused. But just as a precaution, she grabbed the Fire horse’s reins and gently led him back to the stable where Imanami was to get an expert opinion.

  “Hmmm… Looks like we got a lil’ pickle in our hands…”

  “What’s wrong with him?” Nina asked the veteran trainer.

  In response, the old man approached to get a better look at Nina’s Ride. “Always approach from the front and at an angle,” said Imanami. “Lest ya want your skull kicked in.”

  With the deftness that one would expect from a pair of hands that have handled hundreds of Rapidashes, Imanami firmly caressed Bourbon’s legs to relax the Pokemon and applied a little pressure on a particular spot behind his knees to bend it and get a better look at his flaming hoof, making sure to keep his head out of the way all the while.

  “Ahh… There’s our lil’ pickle.”

  He reached into his pocket to grab a pen. Which he then used to pry a little pebble out from between the gap of Bourbon’s hoof and cleats.

  “That’s it? That little pebble’s what’s causing all this?”

  Imanami scoffed. “Try saying that after I make ya run around with a splinter in ya toe. But to be fair, most Pokemon woulda made a fuss the moment they felt something was off. Ol’ Bourbon though…” He sighed and gave the Rapidash an admonishing slap on the flank. “Told ya to speak up when you're hurt, ya stubborn Tauros! Stop being such a Nosepass!”

  “Is he going to be alright?” Nina asked, voice tinged with concern.

  “Well, good thing ya caught it early. Reckon he’ll need a trip to the Pokecenter and a couple days off. Maybe fence’im til the derby just in case. But that’ll depend on his owner. Seems likely though.”

  “Does that mean I won’t be able to Ride him for the exhibition race?”

  Imanami shrugged. “Like I said, depends on his owner. But that old Sneasal’ll likely play it safe. Don’t let that posh act fool ya, girl. It’s all just one big Diglett measuring contest for them. His lot’re all the same — obsessed with the gold.”

  Nina wilted and turned towards Kerry for confirmation. The Nurse Joy smiled and approached to do her own examination. But ultimately came to a similar prognosis as Imanami.

  “Best case scenario, just some muscle fatigue — nothing a quick Potion and some rest can’t fix. Worst case scenario, varying degrees of inflammation in the leg. In which case, he might need more extensive treatment and a period of observation to ensure full recovery.”

  Nina groaned. She had thought that Pokemon were more sturdy than this. “But I suppose for well-tuned racers, every little bit counts towards their performance. Especially if they want to maintain a long and healthy career.”

  The girl pressed her face against Bourbon’s temple, tears threatening to well from her eyes. “I’m sorry Bourbon. We shouldn’t have gone on that run in the wild earlier… This is all my fault.”

  “RaAaAa…” The Rapidash neighed and nuzzled against Nina while extending a circle of Fire to caress her in a warm embrace.

  “Thanks, Bourbon. I hope you get well soon and go kick some ass in the derby. I’ll be cheering for you.”

  “That’s all fine and dandy.” Imanami chimed. “But ya got ya own race to worry about. Best get shopping, girl. You’re gonna need to pick a new Ride.”

  Nina sighed. But just as she was about to walk away, she felt another warm nuzzle against her arm.

  “Hey there, Ricey… Are you here to commiserate with me too?”

  “Po…”

  “Hehe. No worries, I still have three days and the Pokemon here are all well trained. So I just have to learn to work with them.”

  “TaAaAa.” Rice Shower gave the girl a little nuzzle then turned towards her flank and gave Nina a nudge.

  “Oh? What’s this? Do you want to carry me around the ranch?”

  “Po~” The Ponyta nodded, eliciting giggles from Nina as she gladly obliged. Once she was on the pony though, she realized how ridiculous she looked.

  Rice Shower at her tallest, only reached up to the vicinity of Nina’s chest. So even when the girl compacted her posture, her legs were still barely hanging above the ground.

  “Oh well, at least I’ll save on walking time. And it’s the thought that counts.” The fact that the socially anxious Rice Shower was willing to let someone Ride on her was a significant enough gesture.

  Unfortunately, none of the other Ride Pokemon on offer caught Nina’s attention the way that Mihono Bourbon did. And she even expanded her options to include the non-Rapidashes.

  Actually, there was one. Tokai Teio — the ace of Kanto and a gorgeous white steed with the most fiery mane that Nina had ever seen on a Rapidash. However, the owner was not willing to lend him out on account of the fact that they were hellbent on winning the Crystal Derby. Teio was McQueen’s self proclaimed rival and wanted to direct every ounce of his focus to winning the cup from him.

  “Urgh… What do I do, Ricey?”

  “Po?”

  “That Sawsbuck looks cool. Symboli Rudolph, they called him? The Emperor. Imanami said he’s about as fast as any thoroughbred Rapidash. But he’s not up for loan either.” More so because they were worried he might lose in the hands of an amateur and affect morale.

  “TaAaAa…”

  “If only you were bigger, Ricey… Then I can Ride you instead.” Nina let out a deprecating laugh. “But I guess you would be too shy to race huh? The weight of thousands of eyeballs looking down on you…” The girl shivered. “Yeah, best not to think about that.”

  “Po!”

  But to her surprise, instead of quivering like she normally did, the jet black Ponyta gave Nina a forceful nudge and an intense gaze.

  Nina could feel it, the nervous resolve hiding behind those amethyst eyes. “Are you saying you want to race with me, Ricey?”

  Rice Shower stiffened for an awkward moment but ultimately nodded in assent.

  “That’s…” Nina frowned in deep contemplation as she considered her options.

  “Ricey is fast enough to keep pace with your average Rapidash. Just a little push and she’ll be ready for Evolution.” Nina still remembered the little tidbit she read about Ponyta ecology. About how the species Evolves when they finally exceed 200kph and overtake their elders.

  “Not to mention her nascent Aura — an impressive feat for a Pokemon so young. All she needs is a little guidance and polish from the rest of the team. So do I Evolve her before the race then? Three, no, four days to get her used to her new physique… No, that’s too risky. Instead, we might be able to use the Evolution to our advantage…”

  Nina returned Rice’s resolve with an intense look of her own. “Okay, Ricey… If we’re doing this then we have to be smart about it.”

  And with that, Nina summoned the rest of her Pokemon and held an impromptu strategy meeting right on the turf.

  One of the advantages of going with Rice Shower was that their practice time would not be limited to just 3 hours a day. So the pair of them could practice all throughout the night if they wanted, effectively extending the time they had available until the race. Not that Nina would push her new partner that hard. Rest was important to maintain an optimal state after all.