The lyrics directly after "Trainer" belong to Acceptance from "The Letter," and is not mine.


Trainer--So you're the one who took the fall And it's bringing us together.

Leaving Kilika Island behind, the trio chose the area south of the Moonflow, where some of the easier fiends were found. And though Paine had decided before that she would choose their next dressphere, Yuna managed to convince Paine to try something less ominous-sounding than Dark Knight. In an attempt to preserve Yuna's peace of mind (and stop Rikku's annoying appeals for Alchemist—something that did not sound even remotely dangerous) Paine selected Trainer.

The first few battles were simple and (herein lay the very important part) without quandaries. Yuna's dog Kogoro, Rikku's monkey Ghiki, and Paine's pheasant Flurry obeyed perfunctorily, and there were plenty of benefits of using the animals, including their tremendous healing abilities. Yuna adored her pet, Rikku found Ghiki amusing, and Paine's initial doubts about her bird were quickly forgotten.

And then…Rikku discovered something new.

"Heey," Rikku giggled, checking the abilities of her pet. "That's something I didn't know before! 'Swarm, Swarm!' I wonder what that is?"

"I found a new ability, too," Yuna agreed. "It's called, 'Pound!' I wonder if they are the same ability? Paine, did you learn a new ability?"

Making a noise of confirmation, Paine recited, "'Maulwings!' Sounds like a serious attack."

"It does, doesn't it?" Yuna nodded, tapping a finger on her lower lip. "Maybe we should try them in the next battle."

They wandered for several minutes more, each pondering silently what their individual attacks were. Coming upon a Balivarha at long last, the girls summoned their respective pets and prepared for the fight.

"Kogoro," Yuna spoke to her pet, the dog listening attentively with pricked-forward ears. "Pound!"

"Ghiki, Swarm, Swarm!" Rikku told her chattering monkey as it clutched a handful of her hair.

"Maulwings, Flurry!" Paine commanded her bird, lifting her arm to allow the bird to spread her wings and fly.

The dog blinked, tilted his head to the side, and whined as his ears moved back and forward. The monkey continued to chatter, taking time to climb over Rikku's head to her other shoulder. Flurry smoothed out a stray feather, but did not take flight.

The girls paused. "Well, that's no good," Yuna gulped.

"C'mon, Ghiki, Swarm, Swarm!" Rikku pleaded. "You can do it! Swarm, Swarm!"

Paine stroked the breast of her bird, crooning, "Fly, Flurry. Maulwings!"

The animals still did not understand their masters' command. To prevent the Balivarha from killing them, Paine had Flurry use her regular attacks to kill the fiend. In the meantime, Yuna and Rikku tried talking with their pets.

Out of the three animals, Kogoro seemed to catch on first. His eyes lit up and his tail began to move in a wagging motion.

"Good boy," Yuna petted him. "You know what you're supposed to do when I say, Pound?"

Kogoro's ears continued to flatten and rise uncertainly, but he woofed softly. Turning to her monkey and Paine's Flurry, Rikku asked, "Can you guys watch Kogoro and do what he does?"

Ghiki waved his arms and chattered positively. Flurry gave one sharp dip of her head to show her concurrence.

"Good," Paine ran her fingers through the feathers, brushing out dander and loose feathers. "Because here come more fiends."

The animals trained their eyes on the approaching Agamas, determined to make their masters proud. Taking a breath, Yuna called, "Kogoro, Pound!"

Stepping forward, the dog howled. Suddenly six other dogs bounded into the area, yipping and growling. Barking a greeting, Kogoro turned and gave his owner a dog-smile.

"Good boy!" Yuna smiled widely.

"Do you see, Flurry?" Paine asked her pet. "Do like Kogoro. Maulwings!"

With a loud screech Flurry took off and, like Kogoro, summoned four other pheasants. Cheering her pet on, Rikku gave the command to her own pet and Ghiki summoned six of his friends.

The Agamas hesitated at the appearance of so many animals, but did not back down. Their tails swished back and forth, eyes blinking rapidly.

"Alright, Kogoro," Yuna returned to business, resting one fist on her hip as she used her other hand to direct the battle. "Pound!"

The barest moment of hesitation was the only warning Yuna received that something was amiss, but that moment was too short for her to capitalize on it. Instead of performing any sort of attack, Kogoro began to…dig. Taking their cues from their dearest friend, the other dogs began to dig into the ground as well. Some joined Kogoro in working on his hole; others worked in various spots.

"Maybe it's part of their attack?" Paine suggested to a confused Yuna. "Dig into the ground and come up underneath?" Turning to her own pet, she ordered, "Maulwings, Flurry!"

Having resettled on Paine's arm, Flurry turned one golden eye on her. She turned her head back to her wing and began to preen. The sound of the birds roosting in the trees and running their sharp beaks through their feathers filled the road.

"That doesn't look like an attack," Yuna pointed out worriedly.

"Aaaah!"

Yuna and Paine swiveled their heads sharply to Rikku. She had gone ahead and ordered Ghiki to attack, and the monkeys seemed to have had a better grasp of attacking than either Kogoro or Flurry. The only problem in their shrewdness was the fact that all the monkeys had converged upon Rikku herself. They could see Ghiki squalling loudly and attempting to pull off the monkeys from his master, but to no avail.

"Oh, Rikku!" Yuna gasped, rushing forward to help Ghiki. Paine did the same, swatting a monkey away and getting whacked in the face with three tails. Kogoro, hearing Yuna's distressed voice, stopped digging his seventh hole and circled Rikku, scaring the monkeys by barking and snapping his jaws.

In the panic of the attacking monkeys the girls had forgotten the three Agamas. The reptilian fiends slithered forward, intent on doing damage while they were distracted. Hissing, one surged forward—

—And toppled headlong into a hole.

The other two Agamas had followed their fellow fiend in its attack, but backpedaled furiously when their friend dropped from sight. One backed straight into a new hole dug by Kogoro's friends, and the last remaining Agama attempted to run away from the unexpected madness. Instead, as it turned around, it found the dogs had dug holes every which way right before falling into one itself.

Scaring away the monkeys from Rikku's form took several long minutes, but eventually the monkeys disappeared into the surrounding foliage. Flurry's friends also flew away, but Kogoro's friends were having far too much fun digging holes to leave immediately.

"Oooh," Rikku sighed heavily, falling onto her butt. "That was so not fun! I can't believe they swarmed all over me!"

"Where did the fiends go?" Yuna sighed, shielding her eyes to look for the absent Agamas.

"It's probably better this way," Paine mentioned. "I don't know about you, but I think we could use a five-minute break."

The brunette slumped her shoulders and nodded agreeably. Receiving this assent, Paine began to walk back to the shoopuf-dock to rest. She took a few steps backwards before turning around (as per her walking habit), but as she rotated herself, she brought her right foot forward and felt nothing underneath.

Flinching as they heard their friend cry out and a loud thump! following afterward, Yuna and Rikku twisted around to see what had tripped Paine. Peering over the edge of the hole, they found their friend lying on her back fifteen feet down in a hole that was at least twenty feet in diameter. Three dogs barked and nuzzled Paine while the remaining three looked upward and dog-smiled at them, plainly asking for praise for their hard work.

"Yuna," Rikku looked up at her cousin, one brow raised. "Do you think Kogoro would mind digging in Bikanel?"