[ti]solo[/ti][S][Training] Equestrian Experience

With the reins in hand, the riding tutorial began. Though he had read up about how to control a horse in the real world, longing to do so but unable feasibly due so due to how far he would have to travel at a public place to do so, perhaps things were different. His eyes were fixed on the center of the screen, a blue pop-up obscuring his sight.

Information> Welcome to Equestrian Experiences! This tutorial will teach you the basics of controlling a land mount. For the first part of the tutorial, your mount will follow a predetermined path, so you can focus on learning one thing at a time.

Josh's vision briefly faded to black, along with the introductory message, as the game warped him to the road just past The Creed's base, Granmarg facing away from the settlement's walls. Another blue pop-up expanded in front of his eyes.

Information> To control your mount's speed, adjust the pressure you put on your mount with your legs. The harder you squeeze, the faster your mount will accelerate. Releasing your leg pressure will cause your mount to decelerate. Maintaining a steady, light amount of pressure will cause your mount to maintain its speed. Now, you try it!

It sounded... surprisingly realistic. "Ready to go, Granmarg?" he asked, already feeling his thighs firm up just from sitting in the saddle. Thankfully the material it was made out of was soft enough to provide quite a bit of comfort.

"On your command, Josh," the horse answered after snorting.

As soon as he applied pressure with his his legs, the Pokémon entered a walk, then a trot. The light bouncing sensation was at first hell on his thighs, but it didn't take too long to get used to. It was slow, but he was riding! After half a lap, the Pokémon automatically turned course to head back toward the base entrance. Once he had finished reversing direction, another instructional message obscured his sight.

Information> Make a jabbing motion with your knees to induce a SPRINT from your mount. This will cause your mount to gain a large, temporary speed boost. Watch your Pokémon's stamina! If you SPRINT for too long, your mount will tire and be unable to move for a time. Now, you try it!

Josh dismissed the pop-up and gulped. Sprint?! His leg muscles were already stretched beyond what he was used to just from a trot. And the game wanted him to push Granmarg to a full gallop as part of a tutorial? Was this a real tutorial, or a trial by fire?

Granmarg remained at a steady canter, the slowest speed that the Pokémon could maintain a proper running stroke at. The "sprint" icon had a red cross over it. At least he couldn't accidentally dash with his Pokémon when the momentum shift hit him. If riding was this physical just going straight ahead, what would turning be like? He imagined the force of resisting a high speed turn in a vehicle. There was a lot more to being in the saddle than Josh ever thought there would be.

Giving the reins a small tug with his left hand did little to turn the Pokémon; the Mudsdale cantered past the blue dotted lines marking the course bounds. His vision briefly faded to white, finding himself whisked back to where he started. The horse moved at a canter again, this time Josh pulling a little harder on the reins. Granmarg was not quick to respond, but once he did, his turning was more intense than Josh expected, over-correcting and running beyond the boundaries of the course.

For a second time, he was warped back to the start of the course in a flash of light. Slowly getting familiar with the controls, he failed to remain within course bounds on the next two attempts before at last clearing the course.

Information> Well done! You now understand the basics of controlling a mount. Now, let's put it all together! Complete two laps around the course you just rode through. You will have three minutes to do so, after which you will be a veteran Pokémon rider!

Wait, the tutorial was going to make Josh compete against the clock in a horse race? He had already struggled with the high speed of a full gallop. How fast would he need to go to get under that time? Would he need to sprint, or could he keep a steady pace? Regardless, he didn't seem to be given much choice if he wanted to complete the tutorial.

Whisked to the starting line after dismissing the pop-up, Josh leaned forward in the saddle, the reins in his hands, awaiting the countdown. In the center of his vision appeared a traffic light icon. A split second after its green light illuminated, he squeezed his mount's sides, Granmarg accelerating through a walk, a trot, and into a canter. The timer in the upper right corner was stressful to watch. All he wanted to do was put everything he had learned together, not race in a time attack!