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It appeared Shalin's client was already waiting for her. "You must be Altagracia," she presumed aloud. "I'm Shalin Nariya, the wildest Pokémon rider this side of Hoenn! And this is Kiara," she gently pat her Pyroar mount before gently scratching her behind the ear. She let out an affectionate purr more akin to a small cat than an adult lioness. "I'm going to make this worth every dollar you spent! Your Elgyem have a name?"

Once introductions were over, Shalin saw how heavily dressed Altagracia was. "Oh, oops! Just a sec, Kiara!" She slid down from her perch atop the fire-type and rummaged through her tightly-packed backpack for her jacket. "I'd burn up if I flew here in my coat, but I almost forgot to change into it! Thanks for the reminder!" With that, she slipped a winter coat on over her green shirt, packed her other supplies back up, and took her position aboard Kiara again.

"This is my second time in here, but I didn't go all the way to the bottom the first time," Shalin explained to Altagracia. "So what makes the Crystal Trench so special is it's the lowest point in Hoenn that isn't under water. It's quite the natural wonder! It's like a natural ice tower, and I can't wait to see the rest of it with you!" She directed her client's attention to the sign in the center of the cave entrance. "It's really important that we stick together. Remember, the Rangers won't send rescue teams here. We probably wouldn't get reception down there, anyway. But that's what why you hired me, right?"

Once the ground rules were established, Shalin led the way into the misty cave, pointing out an alcove toward the east of the entrance. Cold water was dripping out of it. "This is where we'll come out at when we leave. There are a lot of places in here that are easy to travel way, but almost impossible the other way." She carefully guided Kiara to the edge of a shattered ice sheet, able to feel her ride's heartbeat accelerate.

"This is how I found this place the first time," Shalin gestured toward the gaping hole beyond. Her last backpack was still hanging from a sharp piece of ice quite a ways down; it had to be at least twenty meters beneath the surface level she and Altagracia were at. "You can see the bottom of it, but it's a long ways down. Oh, and rule of thumb about ice. Don't step on any ice you can see what's on the other side of. It probably won't hold your weight. And there's nothing to me. If it won't hold my weight, it definitely won't hold yours." That last comment could be taken as a bit abrasive by the wrong person, but it was the first way she thought of to get the point across.

Once Kiara could not bear to look down the chasm any more, she started walking, and eventually trotting, up a natural ramp to the back of the entrance chamber. As she got further back, the cave's walls became studded with ice crystals instead of purely being rock, and there was a noticeable temperature drop.

Altagracia Contreras

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Shalin        Human          ♥♥♥♥♥
Flit          Yanmega        Good
Kiara         Pyroar-F       Good
Treble        Hakamo-o       Good
Prance        Wyrdeer        Good
Queen Zing    Beedrill       Good
Levy          Milotic        Good

{WC: 538}
{PC: 2}

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"Listo is a good name!" Shalin replied, keeping in good spirits despite her nerves rising. She had already had one close call down here an Alolan Ninetales, the only reason for her survival being her resourcefulness, primarily fueled by her uncanny ability to just grab some fur and hold on tight. She took a deep breath. "Let's go."

The rider guided Kiara into a trot through the northern tunnel, a thin layer of water appearing around where the lioness' paws were with every footstep. She gazed around the room, stopping at its predominant feature: a frozen waterfall that overlooked the lower levels of the trench. While it was hard to see through the ice, there appeared to be an ovaloid observation ring overlooking an icy arena quite a ways below.

"That's it," she pointed. "That's where I got to last time. If that Alolan Ninetales is down there, that could spell serious trouble." She shared the story of how the only reason she was able to survive the encounter without her Pokémon was because she was the wildest rider this side of Hoenn. To someone inexperienced, riding a well-trained Pokémon was difficult. But to hop on a wild Pokémon against its will? With how strong Alolan Ninetales were, she had to have at least pulled a muscle or something!

Having caught enough of the view, Kiara and her trainer moved on to the west room, the undersides of her paws wet from her warm mane melting the top layer of ice. It was cold enough that the water would refreeze, but it made it difficult for Kiara to keep her footing. That was very quickly evidenced by the lioness sliding down an ice staircase, resulting in an extremely bumpy ride for Shalin! She let out a yelp and leaned low on her Pyroar like she was riding at full speed, but there was no way she could slow her down before sliding into the north wall on the lower level!

CRASH!

Kiara was quick to recover from the impact, but Shalin was still shaken up. She wouldn't be allowed to recover her senses, either. Some upset-looking wild Pokémon peered into the snow-covered chamber from around two dark corners, and they looked ready to fight her!

Altagracia Contreras

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Shalin        Human          ♥♥♥♥♥
Flit          Yanmega        Good
Kiara         Pyroar-F       Good
Treble        Hakamo-o       Good
Prance        Wyrdeer        Good
Queen Zing    Beedrill       Good
Levy          Milotic        Good

{WC: 378}
{PC: 3}

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When Altagracia had finished descending the stairs, Shalin waved to her. "I should be okay...just a little shaken up. Kiara's okay, too." She wasn't given the time to say much else; those wilds were closing in fast! She slid off her Pyroar's back and tried to keep her Pokémon between herself and the wild at all times. "Can do!" she quipped as Kiara took the initiative, at first trying to goad the Walrein toward a wall that wouldn't melt when she used her Flamethrower.

Her gambit worked, singing the Walrein! It didn't have as much of an effect as she would like, its thick blubber keeping it insulated against the fire-type attack. The wild curled up and rolled into her, trying to bowl her over with Rollout! Shalin sprinted out of the way and immediately recalled her for a new Pokémon. "Treble! You're on!" The Hakamo-o, just barely too small to bear Shalin in his current form, let out a cry and hurled himself toward the Walrein. A gong-like sound rumbled through the tall cavern from the loudly-vibrating scales above his claws powering his Close Combat. The reverberation made Shalin squint and upset her concentration as she let her Poké Ball fly. She hoped it didn't cause her to miss.

Furthermore, the shock wave from the vibration caused a large icicle to fall in the center of the room, shattering as soon as it hit the ground and sending pieces of ice flying everywhere. Shalin instinctively ducked and buried her face in her hands around the time of impact. Capture successful or not, once the two wilds had been dispatched, two slabs of ice receded into the ground on the north and west sides of the staircase. Two new paths were opened to them now. Before she took either one of them, she switched her Kommo-o back out for her Pyroar and applied a vial of Super Potion to the bruise the Walrein's Rollout had created.

When Shalin walked away from Kiara, the Pyroar purred at her attentively. "What's up?" Kiara sat down and rolled her eyes to one side. "Oh, if you're okay, then sure, let's ride! I just wanted to make sure you weren't hurt!" The moment the fire-type felt pressure from Shalin grabbing the reins, she stood up and took a peek through the gaps where the ice slabs once were. Both rooms were almost as well-lit as the entrance chamber. She guided the Pyroar into a cautious walk into the next room, and found out why: from the west wall, there were thick walls of ice serving as windows from which they could view the sea.

On the room's east wall was an ancient tapestry that looked like it hadn't been disturbed for centuries. The tapestry depicted a white equine with giant chunks of ice cascading from its legs and ending with huge, flat, frozen hooves. In the center of the room was a deep footprint of the same shape. "Altagracia, come take a look at these," Shalin directed her attention to both the curious exhibits, taking photos of them for her gallery she would have to show a historian when she was done. "Have you ever heard of this Pokémon? I'm assuming it's a Pokémon anyway. I've never heard of it."

Shalin pressed on into the next room, which had an entire underwater balcony on the outside, access to it sealed by a wall of ice several feet thick. A small, metal chest on the room's north side immediately grabbed her attention. She whistled for Altagracia to follow her in. If she was willing to do so, she would wait until they were both in the same room until she examined the contents.

There were two pairs of Ice Gems inside, beautifully preserved. These were valuable resources that Ice-type Pokémon loved, and could use them to intensity their cold attacks. Perhaps more valuable was a small scroll, that when unfurled, contained a DUNGEON MAP.

You found the DUNGEON MAP! The darkened rooms are the ones you haven't been to yet.

While the information on the raggedy map was incomplete, it still gave her full knowledge of the Crystal Trench's layout, assuming it was still accurate. Given there were warning signs for people not to come here, it made sense. She used four vials of Ice Heal as paperweights to hold the corners of the map down before taking a photograph of it with her phone, giving Altagracia the chance to do so, as well. "These gemstones would make great souvenirs, especially if we find a good Ice Pokémon in here. We can split these evenly, but I think we should leave the map in here for the next person who comes."

Altagracia Contreras

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Shalin        Human          ♥♥♥♥♥
Flit          Yanmega        Good
Kiara         Pyroar-F       Fair
Treble        Hakamo-o       Good
Prance        Wyrdeer        Good
Queen Zing    Beedrill       Good
Levy          Milotic        Good

{WC: 793}
{PC: 4}

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BOTH OF YOUR CAPTURE ATTEMPTS ARE SUCCESSFUL!

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Shalin listened closely when Altagracia mentioned the myth of Glastrier. "Is this the reason the Rangers don't want people coming down here? Legendary Pokémon sightings, perhaps?" Noticing Kiara was starting to limp a bit, Shalin tugged at her reins to get her to stop. After she obliged, the rider gracefully dismounted and looked at her two front paws. "These are swollen, badly! Clapper's Rollout must have done that to you!" After applying a vial of Super Potion to the Pyroar's paws, she stepped into the other room to retrieve her captured Walrein, which she had named Clapper. She was starting to run out of restoratives, but it was more important to keep her most valuable Pokémon here healthy.

She gave the medicine some time to take effect before waving for Altagracia. "Let's keep going." The room to the east was similar to the one on the west side, giving them a beautiful view of the ocean from beneath. She slowed Kiara to a walk when she noticed a sleeping Hippopotas near the icy room's corner. The passage looped around to where they had entered the first basement level. "Only one way down now, and that's this way," she gestured toward an ice slide.

It was impossible for her to see around the corner of the ice slide, but it looked long and slick; she could probably pull some real speed on it. "This feels like the remnants of a castle of some kind. I don't think we'll get trapped down here if we go down," Shalin reasoned to Altagracia. "Oh, I remember this! When I fell through the ice, I landed on a slide of some kind, and at the bottom of it is where I found that giant Alolan Ninetales. If she's still down there and we run into it, it probably won't be too thrilled to see me. But I want to see more of this place, and there's only one way down. Let's go!"

With that, she sat on the edge of the icy ledge and lowered herself onto the slide. It was just as slick--and fast--as she expected. She felt her stomach lurch as the slide made a sharp curve to her left, flinging her down the half-pipe at high speed. The slide threw her into a familiar sight: an ice arena she would never forget. This was where she did battle with the Alolan Ninetales she had told Altagracia about. If it were back, that could spell bad news for them both.

Altagracia Contreras

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Shalin        Human          ♥♥♥♥♥
Flit          Yanmega        Good
Kiara         Pyroar-F       Good
Treble        Hakamo-o       Good
Prance        Wyrdeer        Good
Queen Zing    Beedrill       Good
Levy          Milotic        Good

{WC: 419}
{PC: 5}



Note: Skipping this Hippopotas.

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The two found themselves on opposite ends of the arena as Altagracia's landing was graceful, thanks to Listo's psychic power. Shalin and Kiara weren't so lucky, both of them sliding into the east wall on the opposite side of the slick arena. The two were able to brace themselves for impact, at worst a little shaken up but still okay. "This is as deep as I went last time," Shalin called out to her partner from across the room. She slowly stood up. "Hey Kiara, mind sitting down for me? I don't want to slip and fall down here." The obedient lioness did as asked, letting her trainer aboard. Her powerful claws let her grip the icy surface with ease.

As memories of the Ninetales came flooding back in, a series of blue flames ignited in the arena's eight torches, one in each compass direction. A translucent-looking Froslass materialized in their head, a spooky-sounding voice echoing in the minds of both the humans in her presence.

"bE gOnE bEfOrE thE flAmEs Of dEspAIr ExtIngUIsh, Or ElsE frEEzE In UnEndIng dArknEss..."

The Froslass materialized in front of one of the torches in the center of the room, inhaling for about two seconds before expelling FROST BREATH and disappearing into the ether. Shalin felt a noticeable temperature drop when the flame extinguished. Her eyes shifted rapidly among the seven remaining lit torches, looking for where the Froslass would appear next. It was the one directly across from the one it had just taken out. "Kiara, FLAMETHROWER!" The lioness turned toward the Froslass and spewed a line of hot flames toward the tricky phantom. Unfortunately for her, Shalin's reaction time combined with Kiara's allowed the Froslass to phase into the ether moments before she would have been roasted.

It wasn't until the fourth flame that Shalin and Kiara lucked out, happening to face the correct direction as the ice ghost warped into material existence. "FLAMETHROWER again!" The Pyroar reared high to be able to angle her stream of fire high enough to torch the wild before it could vanish again. Shalin held on for dear life as the found herself almost parallel to the ground with how powerful the rearing motion was. At least she was able to grab onto warm fur; she wondered how Altagracia was faring with the further-reduced temperature of the arena...

Altagracia Contreras

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Shalin        Human          ♥♥♥♥♥
Flit          Yanmega        Good
Kiara         Pyroar-F       Good
Treble        Hakamo-o       Good
Prance        Wyrdeer        Good
Queen Zing    Beedrill       Good
Levy          Milotic        Good

{WC: 392}
{PC: 6}



ooc note: Planning on befriending the Dewgong, who will be imprisoned in one of the cages, next post.