[Edited]

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After having welcomed Aaron back from his mission in Puleuna kingdom, you ended up spending much more time than you had predicted when you two, along with your Pokémon, ate the cake. It had gotten quite late, and the knight insisted that you should spend the night over at the castle.

Camilla was more than happy to share her room with you. You had no idea she would tease you for the rest of the night though; Apparently she and Doni had walked in on you sleeping peacefully in Aaron's room and kind of saw you hugging his pillow tightly.

It was currently the next morning and she was still insisting on you to tell her all the details. You tried defending yourself, since the situation pretty much indicated you to be the pervert of the situation, but it only made the caramel haired girl laugh.

But you weren't the only one who talked: Camilla had told you about her day, and how she spent it wholly with Doni. You were glad to hear her so happy about their date, but it also made you worry a little.

When you and the blond knight were sent on the same mission to test the Old balls, the two of you had talked a little about this subject, and it seemed to you that he was simply flirting with your best friend the same way he did with any other girl. You had hoped that Camilla wouldn't get serious about him, but it was very clear that what you feared was actually the case.

"I need to go now. Don't think I'm letting you off the hook!" The chestnut brown eyed female hummed, rushing all the way to the end of the hallway where the exit leading to the training grounds was. You flashed the girl a smile before turning around slightly, knocking at the door which was now in front of you.

Queen Rin had summoned Aaron, Doni and you, saying that she would need to discuss things. The blond woman and naturally her maid were already in the room. The two other knights were as well, but you didn't expect a familiar officer to be in the same hall.

"Pardon my tardiness." You said, bowing before you closed the door behind you and stood between Aaron and Doni. Yasen recognized you immediately and waved at you silently while grinning. You returned him a smile before directing your attention completely to the queen who had cleared her throat.

"I am certain that you all are already aware of the mission that was assigned to Sir Aaron. I am happy to announce that it was a complete success: We have received ten Pokémon known as 'Mudsdale' who are native to the Alola region." The olive green eyed woman started, glancing at each of you occasionally. "They are quite similar to our Ponyta and Rapidash, only that Mudsdale have normal manes, not flames, which makes riding on them possible."

"This is a great opportunity since in exactly seven days I will need to send you on a mission to another kingdom. I cannot tell you more details right now, but I will make sure to inform you properly when the time is right." Queen Rin said and went to sit on her throne. "You are not to say a word to anyone about this. That is everything I had to say, you are all dismissed."

After all four of you plus Aaron's Lucario had bowed to the queen, you left the hall just like you were told to. Yasen was no longer quiet and was the first out of the men who started a conversation with you while all of you were headed for the training grounds.

Once you had reached them, the white haired young man posed you an almost confusing question: "Say, what's your last name again?"

"It's L/N. Why do you ask?" You replied, stopping in your tracks not to far away from the gates. Doni and Aaron were simply watching the two of you chat and were actually waiting for you to join them. The red eyed male grinned widely, showing his teeth. "So it really is her! I knew it!"

You tilted your head a little to the side, looking at the officer a little confusedly. He waved you off and started walking away, calling out that it wasn't anything important. You were a little weirded out by his sudden outburst, but you approached the two other knights who continued walking.

"Aaron, can you believe that it's already been a week since Y/N joined us? We should celebrate!" Doni hummed, wrapping an arm around your neck and ruffling your hair with his other hand. You didn't struggle much but managed to free yourself from him, blushing embarrassedly.

"Yeah let's do that. How about we go drinking somewhere tonight?" The dark blue haired male suggested, gaining furious nods from his best friend and a somewhat unsure look of you. That probably meant you would all have something alcoholic, but you were still underage. "But for now, let's focus on learning how to handle the Mudsdale."

After that, the three of you had soon reached the stable. Aaron's Lucario said it would be smarter if he and your Pokémon would go training, since what you knights were going to do wouldn't benefit them, and so, the two mostly blue creatures left to another part of the training grounds.

Aaron went to take three Mudsdale, leaving you to wait with Doni. The blond knight seemed to be waiting for something, and smirked as soon as his best friend spoke upon joining you two again. "What were you talking about with Yasen? It looked like he needed something from you."

"He probably asked her out on a date.~ You better start acting quickly-..." Doni hummed teasingly only to get a playful hit on the back of his head by the other who was slightly blushing. You waved your hands defensively, shaking your head. "It's nothing like that! He just ranted a bit about Myron, and asked me what my last name was for some reason."

The three equine Pokémon were all walking behind Aaron obediently, and you gave them a quick glance. They had short brown fur and black-and-red manes as well as tails of the same pattern. The red blaze on their muddles sticked out as well. Their black eyes looked a bit intimidating and made them appear grumpy.

The dark blue haired young man would have asked you about the last name part if it weren't for his best friend speaking first. "Why would he rant about Myron?" You were a little surprised to hear that Doni wasn't aware that they were siblings. "Well, he's Myron's older brother."

"Really? I didn't know! Well, they do look a little alike, but they give off completely different vibes." The blue eyed young man ranted and you couldn't agree more. Aaron also got into the conversation with the two of you, occasionally making a joke or two about both Kenji's which caused you and the other knight to laugh.

The three of you and the Mudsdale had finally reached a large area on the training grounds where Aaron told you would practice maneuvering them. "These Pokémon don't belong to us, but to everyone who serves the queen, but we'll still need to bond with them if we plan on using them on our mission." The dark blue haired knight explained, freeing the three mentioned creatures from the ropes they were being led on.

"Alright. How can you tell males and females apart? I want a girl Mudsdale." Doni hummed, looking at all three Pokémon closely, trying to find differences in gender. Both you and Aaron sighed, the male bringing his palm to his forehead. "I don't know actually. I don't think you can. At least not as clearly as you could for example Pikachu."

"I see. Doesn't matter, I want this one." The blond said, petting the equine creature which stood in the middle. The Pokémon still wore the same expressionless face even when it was given all that affection on first meeting. Doni's Mudsdale had a green string attached to its mane, and you soon noticed that the other two had strings of other colors: blue and red. That was probably to facilitate telling the three apart.

Aaron insisted that you should choose the equine creature you would be training with next, so you picked the one with the red string, leaving the blue one to the dark haired knight. "Yasen and our squad made sure to equip the Mudsdale, so we'll start to practice riding on them with saddles and bridles."

"I'm sure there will be times when we need to be capable of riding on them without those, but we're not gonna focus on that yet." Aaron said and mounted his Pokémon which already seemed to be fairly attached to him. "That's how you get on top of it." And as soon as those words left his mouth, he got off of the equine creature, gesturing you and the other knight to come closer, so that he could instruct you properly. Seeing how Aaron mounted the creature seemed a piece of cake, but you were about to learn that it wasn't exactly as easy as it looked.

"Alright. Y/N, we'll start with you." The blue haired knight said, stepping somewhat closer to you. "To begin with, you need to stand on the left side of the Mudsdale. Do not stand behind it! It will kick you, because it's prey and doesn't know if you are a predator who is trying to attack it or not."

"Then take the end of the reins in your left hand, and hold the saddle's horn with your right hand for more support." Aaron continued and you did just as he said, gaining something that seemed like a glare from your equine Pokémon. Doni was listening carefully to what his best friend was saying and observed you. "After that, stand as close to the Mudsdale as you can. Once you're in a good position, put your left foot facing forward into the left stirrup. Push off your right leg as you transfer your weight to your left foot."

"Straighten your left leg in the stirrup. Then swing your right foot over the Mudsdale's rear end in one smooth motion. Sit down on the saddle and place your right foot into the right stirrup." The dark haired knight said and got closer to you for this next step, in case the Pokémon would react which was a completely possible thing since it was your first time mounting a Mudsdale. You did as you were instructed and managed almost too well. The equine Pokémon did move a bit forward and back, but it calmed down as soon as it was pat on the neck by Aaron. "The only thing that's left is take the reins and you're ready to go."

You were a little scared that the Mudsdale would throw you off, but you were immediately reassured by the smile Aaron flashed you. The two had locked eyes by then and would have stayed like that for the rest of the day probably if it weren't for Doni calling out to his best friend, saying his foot had gotten stuck in the stirrup.

"Alright, I can do this. Let's try to move around a bit..." You mumbled more to yourself than to the equine Pokémon, patting its neck and caressing its mane softly. You took the reins in your hands again and lightly pressed your feet against the sides of the creature, causing it to flinch before it started walking slowly. "Okay... Good. There's nothing to be afraid of-..."

You were cut off by Doni excitedly shouting a "Wohoo.~" as his Mudsdale galloped rather quickly, coming from behind you and your equine Pokémon, startling your Mudsdale and causing it to lose control in the process. "W-Wait!"

"Please calm down!" You called out, gripping the reins as strong as you could while you attempted calming your Pokémon which was now galloping in no particular direction, shaking its head constantly. You leaned forward because you had the feeling that if you wouldn't do that, then you'd fall off for sure.

You shut your eyes and were very scared, but you were soon saved by Aaron who managed to catch up with you with his Mudsdale and who whistled in a certain tact, surprisingly calming your Pokémon quite a bit.

The equine creature trotted until it completely stopped moving, allowing you to sit up straight again. The dark haired knight had stopped his Pokémon as well and got off of it, walking up to the two of you.

"Are you alright?" He asked, holding his hand out to you. You forced yourself to smile as you grabbed it and got helped in order to get down from your equine Pokémon, You hadn't noticed that you had been trembling this much until you stumbled forward and into Aaron's arms who didn't hesitate embracing you lovingly. "I-It was a little scary... Thank you for stepping in."

"She's still shaking..." The dark haired male thought to himself, trying to come up with a way to calm you down. Instinct took over as he pulled away only a little and planted a soft kiss on your forehead, causing you to stare up surprised.

He had just now realized what he's actually done and couldn't help but blush harder than you currently were. "I didn't intend to-... I-I mean-..." Aaron started stuttering, trying to hide his face as he looked to the side. While he did that, his eyes landed on the over-energetic blond and his Mudsdale, reminding him that he should be lecturing him instead of being all nervous here. "R-Right, Doni. I'll be right back." He said, still not looking at you as he rubbed the back of his neck, soon rushing off to the other knight, calling him all sorts of names.

You were left flustered and couldn't help but trace your fingers on the spot of your forehead which Aaron's lips had touched.

* * *

The three of you had spent your day practicing with your Mudsdale only. Doni still planned on going out tonight even after you had told him that you were still underage. Aaron was a bit hesitant due to that, but you ensured him that it would be fine as long as you would drink responsibly.

All of you had sweated a lot today, so you figured you should bath before heading out, and were so allowed to use the showers at the Cameran palace. You had run into Camilla while doing so, and ended up inviting her along. Her Lopunny as well as your Lucario were very tired, so you left them at the castle with both of Doni's Heracross. Aaron's Lucario on the other hand wouldn't shut up about coming along as well in order to guarantee his master's safety, so he ended up tagging along too.

And so, you five were currently seated at the counter in Doni's favorite bar where he had also taken Camilla on a date just yesterday. The barista came so he could take your orders. "What would you like?"

"How about we all take beers?" The blond suggested, considering your and Camilla's ages, since in Rota and you assumed in all other kingdoms in Kanto, one was allowed to drink beer after turning sixteen. The caramel haired girl said she would rather have a moomoo-milkshake or something Rawst berry-flavoured, but was convinced by the blue eyed knight.

You decided you should go along with it too. It was a special occasion and your first time drinking, so you were almost looking forward to it. Aaron agreed as well, so Doni told the bartender to bring you four beers before wrapping an arm around Camilla, flattering her.

"Master, I have a bad feeling about this." Lucario said, tugging at the blue haired male's knight coat from the seat next to him. You hadn't forgotten about that kiss you received on the forehead, but you were no longer feeling too conscious around Aaron. The male had reassured his Pokémon before turning around in order to face you.

He somehow felt like he should apologize about today, but decided not to, figuring it would make the atmosphere awkward again. You noticed that he wanted to say something but couldn't, so you tried coming up with an irrelevant topic you could use to start a normal conversation. "T-The Mudsdale sure seemed to like you today. Mine wouldn't listen to anything I said."

"Trust me, when I first arrived in Puleuna kingdom and they got assigned to me, I had a really hard time too." Aaron said and took off his hat since he was taught that wearing headwear when one sat at the table was bad manners, even though it was just a few friends drinking something together this time.

"Speaking of, how was your stay there? I've never been in another kingdom before." You said, completely turning away from Camilla who sat next to you. You leaned your chin against your hand and your elbow against the counter, ready to listen to the knight in front of you. "You haven't? Then you must be pretty excited for our next mission."

"Anyway, I met Queen Glacia who personally handed me the Mudsdale. Yasen and his squad travelled with me, so we all stayed at an inn in the village." The dark haired young man spoke, his gaze sometimes meeting yours. The barista had finished your drinks by then and shoved them all onto the counter. You would have liked to listen a bit more to what Aaron had to say, but Doni interrupted you quite enthusiastically.

"Cheers! In honor of our dear Y/N!~" The blond said, raising his tankard slightly, waiting for you others to do the same. You and Aaron exchanged grins before imitating Doni. Camilla had joined in too. The sounds of glass coming in contact with each other was to be heard before all four of you sipped your beers.

It was very bitter at first, but it also had a somewhat sweet aftertaste which tempted you to drink your tankard half-empty. You exhaled deeply before drinking what was left of the liquor. Your mind was already going hazy, and just before you lost control over your actions, you figured that it might have been smarter if you had eaten something before drinking, especially after having sweated so much at today's training.

But let's say, your drunk self was quite entertaining for the others, especially Doni. That was how you all discovered that you were quite the light weight drinker.

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A/N: It's been a while since I've last ridden on a horse, I hope my descriptions were bearable xD

Here's a picture in case you aren't familiar with the equipment you need to mount a horse:

Thank you for Reading!