Having much more experience at the bottom of the Ultra Sea now, Shalin had a good idea of which Pokémon worked well. The Pokémon that did came with her again, while the ones that didn't had been swapped for new ones. Bass Boost and Treble were mainstays, their ability to grind surrounding rock to dust with vibration making them irreplaceable. Others, such as Hayabusa the Scyther, she gave a trial run.

With their autonomy and Lathiel's increasing reliability as a guard, Shalin felt like doing more reckless experiments with her Sygna Suit in the strange environment. Her giant Venusaur, Saria, shielded DESIREE BLOOMS from the core's radiation as he and his Pokémon were setting up to extract ore with the girl's two noisy partners. In a move that may have impressed Desiree even more than at the fair, the Venusaur extended one of her large, thick vines near her trainer. With a big grin on her face, Shalin sat atop the bulb at the very end of the vine - as close to the tip as it would allow.

With the vein the Pokémon were mining being right next to the entrance, Shalin was able to put on her show outside the cave entrance. It seemed to raise DESIREE BLOOMS 's morale, her Alcremie looking particularly impressed. "I don't think she'll be able to--" were Shalin's last words before Saria's giant, thick vine stretched upward. With a bellow, the Venusaur sent a giant pulse down the vine Shalin was sitting on.

Even she didn't know whether she was going to be able to hold on; even under ideal conditions, the resulting spike in her suit's energy demand was extraordinary. Gripping the vine's bulb with all four of her limbs, she held on tight as its long pulse raced toward her. When it reached the end, it sounded an earsplitting crack from the sheer speed it carried Shalin at.

Even her suit did not let her remain on Saria's vine mid-VINE WHIP. The immense speed the snapping vine's bulb reached mid-crack catapulted Shalin into the air, the liquid-like air allowing her to fly far higher than normal and easily break her fall when she felt she was falling too fast. The view she got was amazing, able to see for miles around them and even get a good look at other groups of League officials performing their own operations in the many strip mines that had formed.

By the time she made it down, Lathiel was already repelling an advancing swarm of Nihilego with beams of TRI-ATTACK. Though she had a huge smile on her face, coming down from a big adrenaline high, she wanted to try one more time. Saria stretched her vine to catch Shalin right on the bulb, though she gave her trainer ample time to rest. "One of these days, Saria, I'll be able to ride your vine without getting launched." She let out another proud bellow, one of the few Pokémon on Shalin's team that could routinely unseat her.

As Shalin was about to check in on Desiree, a Nihilego that slipped past her Type: Null latched onto her head. She shrieked, her Venusaur immediately taking action by raising her VINE WHIP. While she didn't crack it, a move that would have almost certainly unseated Shalin in her weakened state, she built up a loop with it, then rapidly drew it back and forth, flinging the two in circles at dizzying speeds. Unable to keep its hold for long, the Ultra Beast was sent flying.

Lathiel and the young girl's mythical water-type made quick work of the rest of the swarm headed their way. Shalin was growing tired, though; crack or no, the extreme motions of Saria's vine were strength-sapping. Even a single lash of the thick, green whip would have pushed her over the edge, and she knew it. She signaled for Saria to let her down, plopping her trainer onto her giant flower and relaxing her muscles with a pleasant scent.

Calmed to the point of obliviousness, Shalin didn't even notice what was forming around Desiree and her Phione: the pink walls of the Eternatus core gave way to a lightless backdrop, the only things visible the white stone surface at the bottom of the Halls of Origin in Sootopolis, a prone female Pyroar, and a hulking Hydreigon whose three heads somehow dripped with different elements: the leftmost, hot embers; the middle, a cold mist; and the rightmost, a shower of sparks. The impact of its three breath weapons against the lioness woke Shalin from her trance, sweating profusely from arguably the most stressful experience she had ever gone through during her tenure in Hoenn.

Yet in her internal fright, she did not scream. The depths of the Ultra Sea had shown her this before. Why was it showing this to her again? Not having a clue why, she slid down from the giant Pokémon, pointed toward her Type: Null, and commanded her to fire a barrage of TRI-ATTACK beams at the three-beaded behemoth.

The TRI-ATTACK and DAZZLING GLEAM crossed paths with the three heads' elemental fire, ice, and lightning breath weapons, directly tagging Shalin with the violent convergence. The explosion blew Shalin off her feet, Sandy quick to buzz after her and catch her. She was bordering on thermal shock as she landed, one side of her body covered in red burn marks, the other covered in ice.

Shakily withdrawing the rest of her Pokémon, including her Type: Null, Shalin struggled to remain conscious against both her battle scars and the Eternatus core's oppression. That look of concern may have grown even more if Desiree were to see the electrical burns ravaging Shalin's cheeks. She needed Pokémon healing badly. "I'll... tell you later..." she moaned. "For now... we need... to get... out of here..." Without another word, her Flygon gently carried her away, fluttering her wings at the minimum speed needed to stay aloft.