Dragon's Den.
There was still some time before dark.
Baimu and Aoyanagi finished hearing about how little Hydreigon had behaved that day, but they did not leave the "kindergarten."
Instead, Baimu took out the finished saddle.
"Sha-sang!"
Hydreigon's eyes lit up at the sight of it. Unlike his rather slow-on-the-uptake trainer, he recognized what it was almost immediately.
"Want to try it out? Do you still have the energy?"
Baimu asked with a smile.
All three of Hydreigon's heads nodded rapidly. Eager to get started, he turned toward his trainer, swishing his tail like a propeller and hunching his back closer. "Sha-sang! Sha-sang!"
Come on! Come on!
"Easy." Baimu studied which side faced forward and where it went over the heads, then quickly worked out how to put it on.
The saddle was made of synthetic leather and thick fabric, sturdy enough to withstand a good deal of pulling. It had safety straps as well, and its only metal component was a bar that served as a handhold.
It was much like the saddles used for ride Pokémon in Alola, only lighter and easier to fold, making it well suited to a traveler like him.
It felt steady once he sat down, too, and his backside did not hurt. Not yet, anyway.
A long ride might be another story.
"Is it uncomfortable?"
Baimu leaned down beside Hydreigon's head and asked how he felt—whether anything pinched or hurt.
Not at all.
Hydreigon was simply bursting with excitement.
"Sha-sang!"
Hydreigon threw back his heads and roared. Like a hound let off its leash, he beat his six flat wings and flew into the sky, heedless of the dragons watching nearby.
He had wanted to carry his trainer through the air for ages.
His build had made him difficult to ride safely, so