[ti]spawn[/ti][C/Altair][Spawn] An Electric Sprint

It seemed Josh's presence left Altair in shock in more ways than one. "The saddle helps mitigate it some, but there's still a tingling sensation, yes," the blonde answered truthfully. Perhaps when he became a Bolter, that feeling would go away completely, and he could saddle up any electric Pokémon he wanted. Well, other than a certain legendary bird he had his eyes on. Strapping barding to that Pokémon would require a staggering stash of experience points. A total he was multiple orders of magnitude away from. "You know how in some monster-hunting video games, you can strap a saddle to a creature made of lava and you won't melt? Same thing here."

Josh, on the other hand, had been keeping up on his quests. If anything, he was just looking to grind up enough experience points to evolve Ulysses into a Dewgong. Once he did, he could saddle up and explore Ostellia's vast underwater maps. Without being a Swimmer or having an aquatic steed, he couldn't even get in the metaphorical door. "Some of my favorites are rarer than I'd like, too," Josh sighed. "Apparently you can only get an Absol by joining a guild... and an unruly one at that. Not looking forward to putting up with them for however long the minimum membership is for."

A whinny from Granmarg called Josh's attention to a Nidoran he could not see the color of from his perch on Raiden, but it was sure giving Granmarg a lot of trouble! "Get out of the way - he's gonna BULLDOZE the area!" Kicking his mount's sides, the Zebstrika bolted ahead far faster than Josh expected. They may have looked out of control from Altair 's perspective.

Granmarg rammed and trampled the poison-type, but at what cost? Those spikes on its back were sharp, one wedging into a gap in the Mudsdale's hoof and imbibing him with the venom of a POISON STING. Josh groaned upon seeing the first poison tick. All the HP in the world didn't do any good against damage-inflicting ailments. Damage over time, and percentage-based damage: the Tank's nightmare. "Granmarg, good work out there. Return," Josh withdrew the Mudsadle and hurled Ares' Poké Ball toward the purple quadruped.

The Charmander, enthusiastic as ever, let out a war cry. "Lemme at em!" he screeched as he grabbed his tail and brandished it like a whip. With a powerful flick, he threw a volley of EMBERS toward the wild.

"Don't mind Ares, Altair," Josh tried to console the newer player. "He's got a lot of pent-up energy, and can be... a bit of a braggart. A showman, if you will."

The boulder and the wave of small fireballs pinned the wild down, letting Ares get in close for a big attack. Inhaling deeply, the tip of his tail turned a white-purple color. Moments later, he expelled royal-colored DRAGON BREATH toward the spine-backed Pokémon. While it did not burn the foe, it did leave its leg muscles twitching, making it difficult for the Nidoran to stand. Perhaps he had gotten a bit too close, a nasty HORN ATTACK causing the lizard to step back.

"He's gonna be a handful when he evolves, I just know it," Josh replied. If he was this brazen as a Charmander, what about as a Charizard? That tail would be so big and long that it might not just be able to flick like a whip, but crack like one, too. That could really launch some fire far and give him unexpected range!

Kyouya's final strike was true, bringing the Nidoran down. Though he did not plan on strapping a saddle to an eventual Nidoking (the kind of force it could heave its body around with made the prospect of riding one painful), it was one more thing to trade to the guildmaster for his precious Absol. He hurled his Golden Poké Ball toward the small poison-type: the spoils of war.

With the combat over, Josh could clarify to Altair how the riding system worked.

"...What?" Josh asked. While he did buy a saddle for his Pokémon, it was no longer something that cost BYTES. Riding Pokémon bareback was definitely possible - Ares had proven that in battle against Alicia Westfield . Looking through the texts in his help menu, they did mention that a saddle was needed to ride a Pokémon. "I think this is an oversight. The devs decided to sunset UNOVR's paid saddle mechanic a few months ago. You don't have to pay BYTES anymore, but each steed is gated by level now. I'll show you."

He and sent out Izoni, a Naganadel that immediately started glitching out and going berserk, putting his rear needle through Ares and knocking him out in a single hit. "...Izoni!" Josh cried, recalling the Ultra Beast as quickly as he could. Going into his menu, he saw the poison-type was afflicted by a Berserk condition that could not be removed. "Anyway, if you look here, it says here that I need to be at least level 28 to ride a Naganadel. But... why did she act out?"