Shalin, riding aboard Prance, had climbed quite far up Meteor Falls. The air was thin enough that Flit couldn't maintain lift even with his wings buzzing full speed. She had to be careful at this altitude! While the mountain wasn't tall enough to have a proper snowcap, it was still cold compared to Hoenn's surface level. She had to slow Prance's pace the farther she climbed up due to wind chill being a factor. There was one more cliff to scale, and Prance could not build up enough running speed to clear it in a single bound. Thankfully, there were an abundant number of conveniently-placed footholds that she could simply climb to the summit. Recalling her Stantler, she carefully made the climb to the top. And there it was. In the center was a cave mouth etched in the shape of a Gible's gaping jaws:
The
Shark's Maw.
Officially, entry into the cave was forbidden due to its remote location, unforgiving terrain, and dreadful Dragon-type Pokémon within. The law wasn't enforced due to its cost, but explorers entered the dangerous cave with the understanding that if something untoward were to happen inside, there would be no effort made to rescue them.
Before she could even get a closer look at the cave, a bright flash of light blinded her, and the summit area was covered in a translucent, dark dome that crackled with electric arcs. Incredibly fierce Pokémon, such as Garchomp and Druddigon, appeared in flashed of white light near the cave entrance. Their eyes gleamed a terrifying red, and they were enormous.
Oh,
Arceus.
Thankfully she was very far away from them, and there were several rocky outcroppings she could hide behind, but if one of those Pokémon spotted her and chased her, she was a goner. D-E-D. They were leagues and leagues beyond what her team was capable of fighting against. She looked up and saw a vortex at the top of the come, and it looked like it was barely holding itself together. She had heard of these popping up in other regions but never been in one herself.
Space-Time Distortions offered unique opportunities to trainers with the right Pokémon, as well as the chance to capture Pokémon with unusual traits for their species. She wasn't going to be catching anything; if she tried catching these Pokémon, she would only get one shot. If she was unsuccessful, those dragons were going to pounce on her the moment they broke free and tear her to shreds.
All of a sudden, Prance's Poké Ball started rocking on her belt. She took it off her belt and held it up to her eyes to see what the Stantler's problem was. The Pokémon started kicking from with, rocking the Ball enough for the release switch to trigger. Moments after release, Prance began glowing with a brilliant light that simultaneously excited Shalin and made her heart sink.
The girl was excited because her Pokémon was evolving into a Wyrdeer, a newly-discovered evolution of Stantler with more developed antlers and a graceful-looking mane. That, and the addition of psychic powers meant Prance could directly communicate with her, too! She was frightened because the giant wild dragons were aware of her presence! The evolution also caused the Wyrdeer's saddle to snap off, being too small for the size of her new form!
All it took was hearing heavy footfalls for Shalin to hop on Prance's back, bareback, and flee. She took full advantage of Prance now being a psychic-type; while the Wyrdeer could not levitate, she could use her psychic powers to slow her fall to the point where she would be able to survive quite the distance. Once they had landed on the next ledge down, about the only place she knew of more hidden yet still inside the Spacetime Distortion, she dismounted, recalled Prance, and hid inside a small alcove. She could still hear the Garchomp's cry as it searched for her. It would have to hurry up, though--the distortion was showing signs of fading...
{WC: 681}
Evolving Shalin's Stantler into Wyrdeer.
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