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Nyx had been bored and, of course, that meant she'd been thinking. One of the many things that crossed her mind had been a particular conversation she'd had with Faleen in the volcano. The grunt didn't know how to fly a pokemon, and that was a fairly important skill for any good Rocket; So she decided that would be what she did to pass some time. It didn't hurt that Faleen was an agreeable person, and there tended to be a shortage of those around base.

The agent was waiting for Faleen not far outside of the building, next to her were two pidgeot; One of them very plain, and one of them golden in color. Darwin needed practice learning to fly, and Nyx had figured she'd teach two birds with one stone. "Hey!" She waved when she saw the blond grunt walk outside.

"No, not really. Just getting these two ready." Nyx pat the two bird pokemon and smiled at Faleen. "It wasn't any problem, really." The agent honestly had nothing to do for the next few days, they were her days off, and she never knew what to do with them. The thought never crossed her mind that Faleen might not want to fly, as much as Nyx didn't want to drive.

"We should get started. You'll be riding Langley today. I'll handle Darwin." The golden pidgeot flapped his wings experimentally and stared, amazed at himself. "He's learning how to fly too." Nyx chuckled.

Langley turned his head this way and that and sized up the human that wasn't his who he would be carrying on his back instead of his owner. "Geoo..."

Luckily, Langley was a rather calm bird, so he didn't show any concern at being approached; Besides, he was used to being ridden, being the pokemon who flew with Nyx and Faleen on his back in the volcano.

"First thing you have to do, when you want to fly on a pokemon, is teach them to let you on. Langley has already been trained, so all you have to do is give him the command." Nyx paused for a moment before realizing that Faleen probably didn't know what that was. "Oh! Yes. Forward! That is his command."

Langley tilted his head and looked at his trainer for a moment after the command was given, and then, after a slight pause, leaned forward and spread his wings.

"Darwin." Nyx grabbed the pokemon's attention as she held a treat of some sort in front of it and low to the ground. The shiny Pidgeot stared at Nyx, then the treat, and then leaned forward to get at the treat, spreading his wings instinctively to keep himself balanced. "Forward." She told him as he gobbled up the treat. It'd take a lot of repeating before he'd learn the command and perform the action without a treat, but Darwin was clever.

"Alright, watch me." Nyx walked behind one of Darwin's wings, stood with her legs at the base of his wing, and then swung her right leg over his back and tail. It was as easy as that, especially easy because the bird was horizontal, instead of vertical like it would be if it weren't bent over. "It feels pretty natural, once you're on. There aren't many places to sit on it. But you'll have to learn where all over again once your Charmeleon evolves." Nyx chuckled.

"Ah. I certainly hope that Tazieff doesn't suddenly decide to turn on me..." Nyx shuddered at the thought. For some reason, she'd forgotten, when she caught the fire type, that she was not overly fond of its evolution; She may have been holding a grudge against Charizard because of that one incident in the labs, but sooner or later, she'd have to deal with it. It didn't help her worries that Tazieff tended to be rather spontaneous and unpredictable.

"Yes. So. Good. Notice that you have no reins. So, you're going to have to figure out a different way to direct your pokemon. You can use vocal commands, yes, but in the air, and at certain speeds, it is nearly impossible to hear anything except for the wind." Nyx paused as Darwin started to flap his wings and dance impatiently around; He didn't seem to be especially fond of having his trainer sitting on him or staying still for so long. The scientist slid her hands down the transformed pokemon's wings and gently but firmly pulled the wings against his body. "Darwin, settle down." It would still be a while before they took off.

Sometimes a good scientific knowledge of pokemon lent itself to useful tricks for training. "As I was saying. Directing your pokemon. You can use non-verbal cues to communicate with the pokemon. Apply pressure with your heel to the torso, but don't kick. If you press with your right foot, Langley will go left, and if you press left, he will go right. Always away from the foot you are applying pressure with." Nyx paused so that Faleen could digest all of that information.

"I've never ridden one... I assume that'd be right if Langley had a set of reins. I suppose it just depends on personal preference, yes." Nyx shrugged. Really, she'd taught herself how to ride Pidgeot through a mixture of months of trial and error, and looking up 'how to' guides on the Internet, so her way was by no means the right way, although it was a way.

"Get comfortable with guiding and staying on Langley. We don't want you in the air before you're ready. If you tell him 'forward', he'll start walking. You can practice turning him that way, and holding on." Nyx had spent at least a week sitting on the Pidgeot while it walked around before she even thought about getting into the air. "You're lucky," the scientist chuckled, "You don't have to worry about riding on him during combat." Living in the same place she worked had an advantage: Nyx spare time, even with as much as she worked, and that meant she had plenty of time to train. After some battles with Mau and a few training sessions with Miss Nadja, Nyx had resolved to train more, and get serious about learning how to battle, which came in handy during the raid at the volcano. Newton certainly had not enjoyed assisting in training Nyx and Langley for aerial combat, since he tended to be a target, and a slow moving one at that.

Langley coo'd softly, unperturbed by the girl on his back, or the pressure on his sides from her testing out her grip. He fluttered his wings after a moment, stretching out while the two humans made preparations for their flight.

"Don't worry about it right now. Steps, Faleen, steps." Nyx chuckled and urged her own mount forward. She didn't need practice on the bird, but Darwin needed to get used to carrying a person.

Langley spread his wings and started to walk forward. Birds were not graceful on the ground by any means and the pidgeot bounced around awkwardly with each step. "Gee, o, gee, o" He squawked in time with his birdy steps.