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The journey here has been - hard, and it's not getting any easier. Lutgarde looks around as they arrive at their destination, tense, as they look at the enormous core. "What the heck," they murmur, and then turn towards Shalin who does not make their head spin as much as this core here.

"So ... how exactly do we do this?" Some part of them isn't even sure they really wanted to do this. Harvesting crystals from the innards of a legendary ... but they also are acutely aware of an alternative. If not them, who else?

"I'll do my part as best as I can, so let's do it." However, their determination seems to crumble and falter under the weight of this core's aura, of the energy of this place.

Shalin Nariya
picking "take the brunt equally" (not explicitly mentioned bc lut has no idea what's going on lol)

Despite being in the perfect environment to be rocked by her Kommo-o's unique motion while still being productive, Shalin was not happy to be back in the belly of the poison-type skeleton. "Do whatever you and your Pokémon can to get Dynite Ore loose from its walls," was Shalin's simple reply, nowhere near as cheerful as she normally was. She really seemed like she wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible. Why?

She had been tasked with gathering the materials to craft her own Dynamax band. The report of what happened in New Mauville had circulated its way into the Rangers' hands. Though it was not well-understood why, Dynamaxing could kill the user under certain circumstances.

Giving no further instructions to Lutgarde, Shalin remained astride her Kommo-o, her Flygon and Type: Null guarding the front entrance from any Ultra Beast invaders. Every scale on the Kommo-o's body began to vibrate, Shalin and her Flygon glowing a progressively more intense green as the shaking got faster and more powerful. Slamming his fists into the rock wall, Treble began to grind the surrounding rock to dust with his rattling fists, leaving pieces of Dynite Ore at their feet. Though her Sygna Suit protected her from much of the radiation that had been released from the now-exposed ore, she might not be able to say the same for Lutgarde Dijkstra ...

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It's both a relief and slightly unnerving to see Shalin not cheerful. It's also definitely the state Lutgarde finds themself in as they nod at the clear instructions, and they nod towards Sylv and Sylph who got to work immediately using Quick Attacks and Dragon Hammers. Their pokémon seemed ... not fine, but not as affected by the oppressing aura as the ranger starts to feel. Maybe focusing on work's doing part of it, but ...

They take a deep breath.

"I'm not sure how long I can keep up with ... everything here," they admit through gritted teeth, causing Sylv to stop in his actions. There's not much he could do in terms of healing, but seeing the oppressive, dark-coloured aura and the approaching pokémon, he cooes reassuringly at his trainer, taking a moment to nuzzle them before throwing up Light Screens that glow with a faint, golden light.

"Thanks, Sylv." Another hit of fear, causing their hands to tremble, and they take deeper breaths. A moment to breathe, to have golden lights dance in front of you while you were just doing that ... breathing.

Shalin Nariya
choice take the brunt equally 50pts
choice focus on heals/defense 50pts

Seeing Lutgarde Dijkstra handling the Ultra Sea's toxic atmosphere poorly reminded Shalin of her trips to the Ultra Wilds before she put together her Sygna Suit. It was miserable. Even with her suit, it wasn't easy to keep going. She had to often make a tradeoff between her mental strength from all the Ultra Beast attacks and her physical strength from being rocked by her Pokémon's vibrations - the fastest way to get the Infinity Energy flowing strongly enough to resist those mental attacks.

"It's... bad here, yeah," Shalin concurred. "A Sygna Suit is one of the few ways to make it easier. And those take not just wealth, but a lot of time, to put together." Gathering the materials was easily the easiest part. To be able to sync with a Pokémon took a long time. For some people, years.

The Captain breathed a sigh of relief as a swarm of Nihilego were repelled from the array of LIGHT SCREEN Sylv had materialized. "That was quick thinking, but--" Shalin let out a yelp as she felt a sudden spike in Treble's vibration, being shaken so fast that her body began to blur atop the fighting-type dragon. "Might want to cover your ears," she warned. "Tight."

Sandy hovered toward the opposite side of the LIGHT SCREEN, the Kommo-o prancing underneath her. She created a DRAGON ZONE centered around Treble, making the already loud CLANGING SCALES even louder. The powerful vibrations made even Shalin squint, shaking like a rattlesnake's tail. The closer Nihilego went flying from the intense shockwave that rippled outward, and the ones farther away were greatly weakened as well. Even so, Treble was exhausted from working his scales extra hard inside the DRAGON ZONE. Thankfully for Lutgarde, Sylv was a fairy-type. That would have hurt otherwise!

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Lutgarde nods, their attempt at a smile a grimace. "Yeah, I'll have to see if I can ever get one made ... but for now, guess I just gotta endure." They try to ease the heavy atmosphere by speaking as if they made a quip, but with their trembling hands, it isn't exactly convincing.

Sylv's Light Screen dance with a warm glow, but prove not to be extremely effective - but thankfully, Shalin has had some more ideas up her sleeve. The Dragon Zone set up doesn't affect Sylv, so the only effect is having the Nihilego repelled. Also creatures that Lutgarde has only seen in books, and that also only after moving to Hoenn and reading up to be somewhat up to date.

But it doesn't stop there. There's several instances where they have Sylph defend against something imaginary, interrupting the mining process, as well as their pokémon attacking air. However, after a while ... The glow of the poison crystals intensifies. "What- that's one of those Pheromosa ... but why is it blue?" Lutgarde frowns, now really unsure if what they're seeing is real or not. "Reminds me of Golduck?!"

But whatever it means, it smashes one of the nearby rocks, proving that, indeed, it is real, and ready to attack. "Sylv, Quick Attack! Sylph, focus your Air Slash on that!" they call out, immediately followed by a headache.

Shalin Nariya
choice take the brunt equally 50pts
choice focus on heals/defense 50pts
choice fight a fusion pokémon (japeal generator, golduck x pheremosa lol) 50pts

Shalin was hyperventilating as she and her Kommo-o worked together to create the painfully loud sound wave that repelled all but one Ultra Beast. A potent PSYBEAM from the blue-scaled bug made Treble screech, Shalin sliding out of his saddle before the extra weight would make him lose his balance.

Shalin withdrew the Kommo-o, letting her Sygna Pokémon take matters into her own hands. A shard of a dragon's RAGE drove the Captain into a trance, Sandy's SYNC STONE humming. Still inside the DRAGON ZONE, their emotions more than doubled the power of the slicing DRAGON CLAW headed the hybrid's way.

Though she was not nimble enough to strike the hybrid Pokémon, it knew when to back down. If it didn't then, then the extreme amount of Dynergy erupting from the Eternatus core would force the issue. Falling out of her trance, Shalin was again breathing heavily. "Lutgarde, grab what you can and go... it's about to get way worse..." the girl heaved.

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Sylph has abandoned the mining mission, also now focusing fire on the intruding pokémon that, by any rights, should not exist. But it does, here, now, and Lutgarde has the feeling that there's more where that came from, and even worse. They take a deep breath, and then exhale. There's not much more time to stand still as Shalin herself launches into an attack with her sygna suit, quickly followed by a Quick Attack from Sylv. To finish off, Sylph slams her entire body against the invading fusion, using Dragon Hammer to force the illusion out.

And then, there's only paranoia and unease left. They nod at Shalin's words slash command, gesturing for their pokémon to grab some crystals, but frankly - they also simply wanted to make an escape as soon as possible. "Let's get out of here."

Before leaving, they take another look back. They are truly inside a creature, and they might be watched, if those eye-shaped things are anything. And they aren't sure ... but there's glimpses they recognise as Hoenn, but ... different.

Likely, it wouldn't be the last time here.

Shalin Nariya
choice lessen the load & escape 100pts
250 RKS points

No sooner than Sylph's DRAGON HAMMER repelled the last Ultra Beast did the core begin to whir. Shalin shoved some last-minute pieces of Dynite Ore into the saddlebags of her remaining Pokémon before whistling for Lathiel, who was clear on the other side of the skeleton. With every bound, she came closer, but the pounding pressure of the Eternatus core also mounted. Its myriad of eyes showed Shalin a Hoenn where the entire sea bed had evaporated.

It filled her with such fright that she hurled away the handful of ore she was going to put in Lathiel's saddlebags. "Run!!" Instead, she skillfully grabbed onto the passing Type: Null, mounted up, and dashed toward the rift back to Dewford.