Shalin wasn't quite sure what was more impressive: that someone could see her atop a Yanmega's back and not panic, or that someone could shout loud enough that she could hear them while sitting mere feet from Flit's giant wings spanning over eight feet and beating over sixty times per second. She wheeled Flit around with greater precision than any helicopter was capable of, landing the curious giant not too far from the young man who called out to her. Once her mount's wings had come to rest, she popped her earplugs out and greeted the local Ranger.

"Howdy!" Shalin called out, waving to the stranger as Flit slowly turned in place to directly face. Her skin was still tingling a bit. "Beautiful day for a bug hunt, isn't it?" There were a few clouds in the sky, but it wasn't hot. She let Jugan, her Snivy, out of his Poké Ball to get some fresh air before their eventual dive into the deep woods. On said bug hunt, the Grass-type would not be very helpful.

Jugan's eyes shifted toward the stranger. It was hard to tell which direction Flit's compound eyes were staring at; after all, the Yanma line had omnidirectional vision! "What brings you out here, if I may ask?"

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Flit          Yanmega        Good
Kiara         Litleo         Good
Jugan         Snivy          Good
Prance        Stantler       Good
@laskt

{WC: 212}
{PC: 2}

"It gets cold in northern Johto, too! At least in the winter...anyway, that's where I'm from!" Shalin rambled. "Oh, I always forget to do that! Shalin here, wildest Pokémon rider in all of Johto! Great to meet you, Ivan!" As tacky as the self-proclaimed title was, it just fit. She couldn't help but let out a smile when she saw the little Rookidee. "One of my friends back home would be impressed by the little one's plumage!" If she was on the ground, she would have attempted to give the small flying-type a gentle pat on the head, but she wasn't going to get out of her harness for just that.

Jugan introduced himself to Artotia as well; she had never seen the species Artoria was, as it was not native to Johto, and Shalin had met the Snivy well after her's first trip through Hoenn. She thought the crisis running through the region was bad the first time she went. Little did she know how bad things were now.

"Out on patrol, huh?" Shalin asked, noticing Ivan's Ranger credentials. "I thought about becoming a Ranger, but the job was a little too...rigid...for my tastes. I do wilderness expeditions." It sounded so weird to someone not in the field, but there were people who wanted to see the world but did not have the survival skills to go to the most remote parts of the region. She would get those people there and back safely. "Then how about we head in together, Ivan? The more, the merrier!"

She paused to listen to the Ranger a bit more. "Well, not quite; just a few specific ones I'd like to find. Beedrill especially. I wanted to bring one from home, but she got rejected at Customs and I don't know why. She was the sweetest thing, and could even fly with me on her!" She paused again to think about what she would be going after. "Scyther, Scolipede, Larvesta or Vikavolte even...there are quite a few. I'd love to return with even one."

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Flit          Yanmega        Good
Kiara         Litleo         Good
Jugan         Snivy          Good
Prance        Stantler       Good

@laskt

{WC: 346}
{PC: 3}

[nospaces]
[break]

Shalin's positivity was certainly contagious. "It's what I live for!" she couldn't help but blurt out as her smile grew. Flit's wings started to flicker but not fast enough to drown their conversation out with the droning that made Ivan yell before. "Trust me - the freedom you'll get from traveling on a Pokémon is something you'll have to experience yourself. If more of my Pokémon cleared customs, I'd let you use one of mine!" She, of course, didn't consider her massive amount of experience and even trick riding she had done previously in her Pokémon recommendations. Prance, her Stantler, was probably the most newbie-friendly Pokémon she had, and she got quite bound-y for most beginners to handle.

Being a wilderness explorer and a Pokémon rider gave Shalin quite a knowledge of mount Pokémon, which was part of the reason she appreciated Artoria so much. "When your Rookidee grows up, she'll be able to carry you higher than Flit ever could carry me!" She felt Flit's weight suddenly shift away from Ivan and his Pokémon. "No, Flit, I didn't mean it that way, silly!"

"A little of both!" Shalin chirped. "Think of them like safaris, but to remote locations that you can't get to with even an airplane. These are places you have to ride a Pokémon to get to." She described some of the remote regions she had been to with clients before, including a cave whose tunnels were lit by a bioluminescent moss, and a second cave featuring tunnels that absorbed all sound. "Of course, the groups are kept to no more than a few people as to cause minimal disturbance to these wonders of the world!"

Shalin's excitement continued when Ivan took an interest in bug-type Pokémon, too. "In that case, since I don't have a spare set of earplugs, I don't think I can keep Flit around while we explore the woods. But I have a backup plan!" Shalin dismounted Flit and swapped him out for a tall-looking Stantler, who was also tacked up. Was her entire team mount Pokémon, as she seemed to indicate? "This is Prance. She was one of the first Pokémon I caught!" The Stantler was a little grumpy-looking but was otherwise well-behaved, letting her trainer climb aboard.

"No biggie, Ivan!" Shalin assured. "Prance and I can scout ahead!" She coaxed the Normal-type into a canter to get ahead of the Ranger and his Rookidee, guiding them in the direction of where she remembered her Secret Base to be. It didn't take more than a few minutes before something other than the ambience of small Pokémon cries caught her eye; several downed trees with distinct marks on them that could have only been caused by one Pokémon: a Scolipede. They looked recent too.

Shalin's smile turned into a grin as she swerved Prance sharply to the west. The Stantler bucked and kicked in place a couple of times in place before following orders, but it was nothing the blonde couldn't handle. If anything, it looked like she was having fun during her Pokémon's rodeo act. She was a lot tougher than she let on! A pair of horns a few hundred feet in the distance was the only clue she needed to locate her quarry. Not wanting her mount to be overpowered, Shalin reached for her belt and undid the latch covering Kiara's Poké Ball.

The energetic Litleo snarled at the Scolipede, her mane and mouth heating up in preparation for belching fire all over it. She was goading the wild into a charge. The bug-type took that challenge head-on, lowering its horns and building up tremendous speed. Kiara's Flamethrower attack collided with the wild's tail as it pulled a sharp about face. While the tail was by design a piercing weapon, it could slash almost as well as the leek of a Farfetch'd, given enough speed...and this species was not lacking in speed.

When Shalin heard Kiara's pained cry, she had Prance accelerate toward the wild she intended to capture. She tossed a Poké Ball toward the long-bodied insect. Even if this capture wasn't immediately successful, it would buy her enough time to at least make sure her Litleo was safe...

@laskt

{WC: 716}
{PC: 4}

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Flit          Yanmega        Good
Kiara         Litleo         Poor | Toxic
Jugan         Snivy          Good
Prance        Stantler       Good

[nospaces]
[break]

[break]

BOTH OF YOUR CAPTURE ATTEMPTS ARE SUCCESSFUL!

Shalin couldn't help but let out a laugh at Artoria nagging Ivan for some attention. "I don't think competitiveness is a bad trait for a Pokémon to have! It just means they're going to give their all in anything they do!" She wasn't sure whether Ivan and Artoria would take that as a compliment or as an insult, but it was the nicest thing she could think to say. "Flit...is really fast. He's just a bit hard to control is all." After all, Yanmega were so agile that they could fly in any direction while facing any direction...not to mention the tacit and aural feedback from their wings had to be jarring to anyone not used to it.

After the battle, Shalin briefly dismounted Prance to make sure Kiara was okay. "Thank you so much for looking out for me!" When she examined Kiara, it looked like the Antidote was doing its job in drawing out the poison. The stab wounds from the Scolipede's horns were still quite deep, and would take time to heal. "I think she'll be okay for now," she answered Ivan when asked if she was doing okay. "I need to bring her back to her Poké Ball before it gets any worse. Rest up, Kiara!" She drew the badly injured Fire-type back into her Poké Ball.

After about twenty uneventful minutes of riding Prance at a walking pace alongside Ivan, Shalin noticed several yellow objects hanging from the treetops. Upon closer examination, they were Kakuna hanging from trees by lines of silk! "Keep your guard up," she told Ivan, keeping her voice down. As if right on cue, her ears picked up a distinct, menacing buzzing sound. She didn't look scared, or even on edge; if anything, she was thrilled to hear the noise. "Where there are Kakuna, there are..."

Shalin turned her head in what she thought was the direction of the noise, but it was muffled by Petalburg's dense canopy. By the time she could figure out where it was coming from, it was too late. A fully-grown Beedrill ambushed the two from behind thick foliage, Prance rearing up just in time to protect Shalin from being skewered by its twin, venomous forelegs. Or should she say, her stings. This was a giant queen Beedrill, easily her own size!

A queen Beedrill out and about meant only one thing; she was a reject of a hive that had multiple queens, and was probably beyond frustrated at losing the battle with the hive's other queens. Shalin and Prance just happened to be there. She struck with the raw strength of a Mega-Evolved Beedrill, leaving Prance with two nasty red and blue marks on her rump. Intent on resolving this nonviolently, Shalin leaped off Prance's back to give the Normal-type plenty of room to battle. Prance's orbs glowed an eerie violet as she gently shook her head back and forth, but the Beedrill was too wound up for rote hypnosis to work.

Her red eyes glowed with rage, putting more force into her stings. While Prance was able to shrug off the first barrage, the second found a chink in her skeleton and pierced deep. While the threat of venom was much less profound than with a Beedrill's deadly tail sting, the rapid and repeated strikes were taking a toll on Shalin's primary mount. She had to go for a more debilitating attack: a bright strobe light from her antlers, leaving the Beedrill delirious and unable to fly straight. At the first opportunity Shalin saw the upset bug-type was facing away from her, she lobbed a Poké Ball toward it. This big bug was hers, and hers alone!

{WC: 618}
{PC: 5}

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Flit          Yanmega        Good
Kiara         Litleo         Critical
Jugan         Snivy          Good
Prance        Stantler       Fair

@laskt