“Heck no! I ain’t becoming no goddang idol!”

Nina glared in disgust, at the frilly white and yellow trimmed outfit Mizuho was holding.

The older woman smiled. “I think you’ve been spending too much time with Mr Imanami, my dear. Though you do sound very cute with that horrible accent.”

“Stop trying to change the subject! What’s the meaning of this Mizuho? I thought I was just supposed to do the race and be done with it!”

The woman sighed. “It was Whitney’s idea after meeting you the other day. Though to be fair, she’ll be joining you on stage and the remuneration is more than adequate. And before you ask, I’ll say that refusing would have been more trouble than it’s worth.”

Mizuho looked towards her charge with a pleading glance. “Please? It’s just 10 minutes on stage. The song and dance is only about 4 minutes, the rest is emcee work which Whitney will handle. You just have to stand there, smile and wave when they cue you. Also, I roped Kerry in as well. She seemed quite excited actually…”

Nina groaned and looked towards her pink haired friend, who was holding onto the hems of her jacket with full on Baby-Doll Eyes. “Urgh…”

Mizuho smirked, knowing she had already won. “C’mon, let’s do a test fit of your outfits. And the choreo is super simple — way easier than our Gym’s. It’s just a lot of prancing around and cute hand movements, I reckon you only need about an hour of practice a day. Although, you will have to put in some extra time for your singing. We’re cutting it real close for the recording because I asked them to let you lipsync — you’re welcome.”

Nina let out another reluctant groan while glaring at her manager. However, clinging to her side, Kerry-Anne Joy used Fake Tears and Baby-Doll Eyes. It was super effective. Nina was greatly weakened.

“Dammit! Using a cute girl against me. That’s so not fair!” Especially when said cute girl was one of her closest friends.

***

“Waaa!!! They’re all bullies, Ricey! Big dumb bullies!” Nina cried as she threw herself onto the quivering Ponyta for a suffocating hug.

“‘It’s no big deal,’ she said! ‘It’ll be easier than the wedding,’ she said! It’s gonna be on live television dangnammit! How am I supposed to not be nervous?!”

“Po…” Rice Shower squirmed with a weak neigh and attempted to awkwardly placate the girl by flaring a warm flame to encompass them.

“Hehe… You’re so kind, Ricey, you know that? And your control over Fire is absolutely masterful. I reckon it won’t take more than a few pointers to get you to start using Aura.”

“Well, I’ll be… Ya got the little Shellder to open up.”

Nina loosened her embrace a little to greet the approaching Imanami. “Hello sir. Yeah, I saw her peeking at our race yesterday. She seemed really eager to run, so I managed to coax her into a game of tag afterwards.

“Heh. Not bad kiddo… Seems like it ain’t gonna be long til we can get someone to Ride her.”

Rice Shower shuddered at the thought and promptly buried her head back in Nina’s embrace with a tight squint while flaring a spiky flame to encompass them both.

The girl let out a wry smile while gently caressing the Ponyta along her cerulean blue mane. “Maybe give her a bit more time. And besides, a girl my size can barely fit on her while only looking a little ridiculous. I doubt you can get her to carry a full sized adult just yet.”

Imanami shrugged. “Eh, ain’t no hurry. Anywhos, let’s get cracking. We only got 5 days to whip ya into shape.”

Nina frowned. “I thought it was six?”

“Bourbon’s gotta lock in on the Crystal Derby the day b’fore. And speaking of, y’all will only be getting 3 hours a day with your Rides — the lot of them all have more important races to worry about. The owners are being plenty generous as is.”

“Aww…” The teens whined.

“Is that gonna be enough time?” Justin chimed.

Mizuho had reached out to the organisers and managed to sign him and Kerry up for the race. One was a Nurse Joy and the other finished top five in the Indigo Conference, so they were loosely counted as celebrities. In fact, one of the participants was a cousin of Kerry’s who was also an amateur equestrian.

Imanami scoffed. “It’s just an exhibition race, boy. Nuthin’ to write home about. Aside from girlie here and her little gander, the rest of y’all ain’t got nuthin’ to lose. Nuthin’ to win either — just a bit of clout and screentime.”

Justin wilted a little, but the fire in his eyes was unquenched. Such was his competitive nature. Kerry though, was just happy to Ride around a horse like a princess. Even happier now that she got to play at being a proper idol as well, however fleeting the experience may be.

“But enough about all that.” Imanami waved. “Race’ll be on a medium turf. Just the right length for your little show — not too long, not too short, and plenty of green to look at and take pictures with.”

“Medium turf?”

“Medium’s range — ‘bout 4 kilometres. Average Rapidash can go well over 200 clicks an hour on a straight line, so do the maths. Turf’s the style of track — grass. I’ll let y’all see for yourself. Now go put on your helmets. Times’re wastin’.”

The three teens nodded and scrambled to follow suit.

***

Thumpity, thump-thump…

Nina once again surrendered herself to the rhythm of Mihono Bourbon’s gallop. He was steady — unerringly steady. Compared to Justin’s chosen Rapidash, a reckless speedster by the name of Mejiro Palmer, her Rapidash might as well be a machine. Which was consistent with Bourbon’s nickname; the Cyborg.

And speaking of Justin, the boy once again overtook her with another shriek. From what she could tell, his Fire horse really only had two modes; pedal to the metal or barely chugging along. Just like his Rider.

“Time to pick up the pace, Bourbon…” Nina whispered, prompting the brown coated Rapidash to crank it up by half a notch, ready to overtake Justin at a moment’s notice.

Behind her was Kerry and her Ikuno Dictus, steadily applying pressure on her and Bourbon with their intense gaze. The brownish red mare was a Late Surger, according to Imanami. Meaning, she preferred staying at the back before surging ahead near the end.

And surprisingly, slightly lagging at Kerry’s side was a precocious black Ponyta, blue flames surging and panting with exertion as she desperately pumped her delicate legs to keep up with her seniors. Rice Shower had her eyes trained on the back of Nina and Bourbon, fully focused on catching up to them with an unnerving amount of intensity.

Nina smiled and quietly cheered for the determined Ponyta. “Gotta be a good role model to Ricey, Bourbon. Time to show her why they call you a Front Runner.”

“Brrr…” The Rapidash huffed, the pale Fire on his back flaring to encompass his entire body while Nina tightened her stance and hunkered down to brace herself for what was to come.

Under normal circumstances, Mihono Bourbon was a Rapidash who surged towards the lead and held it throughout the entire course of the race — a Front Runner. But when faced with Justin’s reckless steed, they opted to keep second position to preserve stamina.

“Now, Bourbon!” Nina called, the moment that she sensed their opponent faltering.

“Ra!” With a silent huff, Bourbon accelerated in a bright flash, like a flaming meteor burning through the tracks — Flare Blitz. The use of moves were perfectly legal in the Derby. But only once per move, and so long as it wasn’t used to inflict direct harm to their fellow racers.

“Wha—! They’re catching up, Palmer! Haiya!” Justin cried out in a panic and furiously whipped his reins, but to no avail.

In the blink of an eye, Nina’s Bourbon shot past and took back the lead. One length, two lengths, three… and all the way to the finish line.

“HECK YEAH!!!” Nina cheered, sweat dripping down her brow from the intense heat. Despite not being the one who ran the full four kilometres, she couldn’t help but share in her Ride’s exertion.

Surprisingly though, when Nina peeked behind her, what she found was not an incensed looking Justin gesturing rudely at her. But rather, a ragged Ponyta, legs trembling past the finish line.

That entire time, Rice Shower had kept pace and not only overtook Justin’s exhausted speedster at the final spurt, but even managed to nearly tie with Ikuno Dictus at the finish. “Incredible… What a peppy little pony…”

“One minute fourty…” Imanami declared when Nina finally came to a stop. “Not bad, but not good enough either. You’re being too careful around corners — all of yous. 200 clicks an hour is barely faster than the fastest Ponyta.” He chided while gesturing towards Rice Shower with an inexplicable look on his face. “Rapidashes, ‘specially those bred for racing, can go much faster.”

Nina nodded. “We’ll do better. That first lap was just a warm up.”

“Heh. Ya better… But not right away. Gotta keep these Rides fresh for the Derby, so get them galloping to cool down. Then I gotta check on them, and make sure they’re healthy.”

And so they kept at it, alternating between laps around the track to special exercises for the Rapidashes until the sun began to set.

At some point, Mihono Bourbon’s owner, a posh looking old man in an expensive suit came by to check on things and meet Nina. “Take good care of him. Bourbon has a sprinter’s physique, or so they say — not ideal for running the distance. But I disagree and Bourbon’s determined to prove them wrong as well.”

“RaAaAaAa.” The Rapidash neighed and nuzzled up against his owner, eliciting giggles from Nina at the wholesome sight.

“Hehe… We’ll make sure to do you proud, sir.”

The man nodded. “I expect nothing less… By the way, what do you think of that little Ponyta?”

“You mean Rice Shower, sir?”

“Indeed. Imanami showed me one of your laps. Quite a rambunctious little one isn’t she? She has quite the noteworthy career ahead of her. So long as she doesn’t burn out before then of course…”

The man shook his head. “My apologies for the ramblings. I was mainly inquiring as to what you think of little Rice Shower’s personality? Call it professional curiosity… I don’t believe I am familiar with the Ponyta’s owner and am looking to reach out. We often interbreed our racers within the circle you see, with the hopes that their best traits may be passed down to the next generation.”

Nina frowned in hesitation and returned with a conservative response. “From what I can tell, Ricey’s very shy, almost too timid — even among all the Pokemon that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting so far. But she has quite an unyielding mind, which was what allowed her to keep pace with her seniors. Aside from that, I’m not too sure…”

The girl chuckled. “You’ll have to forgive me. I’m not an expert on Rapidashes like yourself, sir.”

The man responded with a genial smile. “Not to worry, my dear. You’ve been very helpful already. I wish you all the best in the upcoming race, you’ll certainly need it. I hear you have a small wager ongoing with Lady Whitney?” He furrowed his brows and lowered his gaze to give Nina an intense stare.

“Mejiro McQueen is not to be underestimated. That stallion is a Pace Chaser, the scourge of every Front Runner. Having McQueen on your tail means that the two of you will face the full brunt of his Psychic Aura. Combined with Whitney’s conniving mind, the pair make for a fearsome combo. DO NOT! Under any circumstances, fall for their mind games, do you hear?”

“Yes, sir!” Nina nodded with a gulp.

“Good. And going back to our earlier conversation, it is not prudent to belittle an unyielding mind. Sometimes, that is all it takes for one to achieve greatness. Remember, the mind can help the body transcend.”

Nina nodded once more, fully in agreement with that statement.