"Nimble might be the word you're looking for," Shalin added. Intense was a correct word, but nimble seemed more accurate to her. She loved a rough and tumble ride, not ones that purely had super speed. "I don't know why, but I just can't handle the very fastest Pokémon. Yet Treble can rumble his scales like he did before and I'll be fine."

Just as Shalin had finished donning the armored vest, Julia's cry got her attention. "Wow, let me see!" Provided Julia would allow it, Shalin would examine the object. "You're right, this is Laprasite! It's unrefined, but when we get out of here, you should be able to take this to a jeweler and get a Mega Stone crafted out of it!"

Shalin groaned when she heard Julia's assessment, confirmed by the presence of FROST BREATH in Kiara's face as well as her own. Using the direction of the Ice-type attack as a queue, Kiara's mouth foamed with flames, the lion roasting one Froslass at close range with FLAMETHROWER. She ordered the Pyroar to point a second fire attack where Julia pointed, but there was no obvious attack impact. She had clearly missed.

The rider could feel Kiara's very shaky footing. She withdrew the Pyroar for her Wyrdeer, already starting to get very cold from not having a body radiating heat beneath her. Sitting on a Normal-type's back would keep her out of harm's way from the Ghost-type attacks the Froslass had at their disposal, but the FROST BREATH was still a real danger.

Battling invisible Ghost-types was indeed a complex affair. Julia had the right idea of incapacitating them all with Lazuli's song! Shalin reached for her Pyroar's Poké Ball to withdraw her Pyroar, but could not dismount, do that, and cover her ears in time to avoid the Lapras' lullaby. With no way to cover her own ears, Kiara succumbed to the tendrils of sleep, yawning and passing out on the icy floor.

The Froslass wouldn't stay asleep for long, though! Once the song was over, Shalin withdrew her sleeping feline for Prance, her Wyrdeer. She mounted up, her partner quick to harness her into place with a PSYSHIELD before ramming and trampling over the last known locations of the sleeping ghosts. It worked! The three disappeared in more ways than one... but no path forward opened. At least not to her.
Julia had the tools to see it, though! It would have been obvious to her during the battle with the Froslass that there was a false wall near where the battle had taken place. Provided she looked around where they had fought both the Froslass and the Mr. Rime, she would be able to see that there were a total of four false walls on the second floor's west wing. Unfortunately, there was no getting through the wall the large ice block was on the other side of. That wall was far from illusory; if anything, it would be observably thicker if Julia were to focus on it. Perhaps there were not just illusory objects in the Mirage Palace, but also illusionary masking of objects, as well. Perhaps the Mirage Palace needed to be upgraded to a Hard No-Rescue Zone after these two were done! This place wasn't just dangerous; it was downright deadly!

Provided Julia would lead the way, the two would finish their exploration of the icy floor's west wing. A repeating motif, both in in the lower and upper floor, were etchings of a large Pokémon Shalin did not recognize. It was a strange-looking, roughly turtle-shaped Pokémon with two arms coming out of its back, interlocking perfectly with one another to form a ring with large, prominent pores. "Have you seen this P-P-Pokémon before?" Shalin asked, starting to shiver from not being astride Kiara.

The two would be rewarded for their exploration; in the corners of the rooms with the reliefs of the strange Pokémon were two ornate chests, also carved out of Never Melt Ice, though this ice was dense enough to be fully opaque. She had her Wyrdeer kick each of them open. The first contained a small cache of FIRE GEMs and ICE GEMs. While not many, there were enough for the two to share. The second contained something familiar and more valuable: a COMPASS not unlike what she had found in the Crystal Trench and Epoch Ruins.

You found the COMPASS! Now you can see the locations of many things hidden within the dungeon! This COMPASS has a special function - when attuned to a Klefki, it can tell you if a key is nearby!

Shalin looked anything but excited about her find; all she could do was clatter her teeth as heat continued to leave her. After dismounting just long enough to take her fair share of the spoils, she reined her Wyrdeer toward what she thought was the false ice wall, but had forgotten exactly where is was. With a thud, the two smacked into the nearby real ice wall, the PSYSHIELD the only thing keeping Shalin in the saddle. She let out an odd noise that sounded like a shivering groan.

Shalin shrugged and shook her head, doing her best to stay warm and keep as close to Momo as possible. That Simisear was her lifeline in the frigid temperatures she was ill-equipped for. Shalin simply nodded at Julia's comments. One drawback to being so small was extreme temperatures more easily affected her. She was better with heat than with cold. Being in summer clothes didn't help in that regard, either.

By the time Shalin could react to Julia's shout about the very real wall in front of her, she could not slow her mount in time to avoid an impact. Thankfully, the Wyrdeer's mind was faster than her physical reaction time! Prance had erected a second PSYSHIELD in front of herself to blunt the force of the collision with the very real ice wall. She simply nodded and followed Julia back to the stairs. The rider dismounted and recalled her Wyrdeer, wanting to take a break to warm up. While she had to be careful how far she advanced down the hallway, for thermal shock was still very much a threat, she advanced a lot farther than she did when she approached the stairs the first time.

The map Shalin had made was now marked with a lot of important locations within the Mirage Palace. "Here," she pointed to the most noteworthy one: the location of the Medallion. It was on the east wing's lower level, and they had yet to find a way over there. "I'll have to text the link to you." She had to set her phone to local mode to get a direct signal with Julia's, but with a signal that could only support traditional voice, there was no sending a digital image any other way.

After a few minutes of resting, Shalin had warmed up again. With there being no threat of cold on the palace's bottom floor, she clicked Treble's Poké Ball open and hopped on the dragon's back. "Alright, lead the way, and be thorough!" Looking through the Laprasite lens had to have been taxing on Julia, too. Infinity Energy was a mighty power, but it did not come without its drawbacks.

Provided she was diligent, Julia would discover that the dining room was not as it appeared to be; the entire room was an illusion. When viewed through the Lazuli Lens, the gorgeous curtains were filled with holes, as were the rugs on the floor. The pristine-looking table had numerous long cracks in it, looking like it would fall apart if someone stood on it. Several of the chairs had broken backs. The ones that weren't were occupied by human-shaped ghosts; if Shalin could have seen them, her assumption would be that they were souls of the royal family that had lived here in aeons past, unable to pass on to the afterlife for some reason or another.

Most notably, Julia would easily be able to see a tunnel entrance, previously out of sight by yet another false wall. On all four sides of the transparent, glass-like tunnel were massive, translucent pipes, several of which had magma flowing through them. If the two were to look down, underneath them would be a network of such pipes, presumably used for geothermal power in the age when a kingdom was being run from within the Mirage Palace's doors. "Arceus..." Shalin swore. She was not one to swear often, but when she did, it grabbed the attention of those who knew her well. "I bet this could power an entire town. It's a real shame technology gets lost to time so often." While it was difficult to see the entire network due to many of the pipes blocking one another visually, the two would be able to get a rough idea of how the magma flowed. This left them with educated guesses on which rooms were superheated and to avoid.

While the map and compass together were great tools, they could really only be used on the bottom floor of the palace; the top floor was so cold that if Shalin used her phone for extended periods of time up there, she would risk damaging or even completely cracking its screen. That would not be a cheap piece of equipment to replace. "You're right. There's a whole second wing of this place," she agreed with Julia. "But how do we get there? Given your Laprasite thing, I think you should take point." Treble nodded; as things stood, the two would be flying blind if they led. Shalin had already collided with a wall of ice upstairs; if it weren't for her Wyrdeer, she would have been a lot worse off. It was still a mystery to her.

What legendary Pokémon's power could have crafted such a bipolar place? Perhaps more frighteningly, a combination of more than one? She could not think of a single one that had dominion over fire and ice, though her knowledge of them was quite slim. There appeared to be paranormal factors at work too. What in Arceus' name was going on?

Both of them mounted on their Pokémon, she observed Julia searching the large dining hall. What her partner said baffled her. She reined Treble to one side so she could try to peer over Julia's shoulder and look through the lens herself. Even if Julia let her look through it, she wouldn't be able to see anything special. What particularly creeped Shalin out, though, was Julia seemingly talking to herself. She was not one to do that, from what the explorer understood. Only Julia could hear the words of the Royal Family member's apparition:

"SLaY THe FouR FoXeS WiTH THeiR oWN MiGHT. oNLy THeN CaN We PRoCeeD To THe aFTeRLiFe..."

The mention of the ghosts' words was all the more unsettling for Shalin. "You're as clueless as I am," she added. "All in due time, I imagine. You are right, though; we have run into more than our fair share of foxes in here. I never thought about how many different Pokémon like that there are until now." While they was likely to be fire-types or ice-types, given the nature of the reality-defying palace, there were all kinds of Pokémon that could fit the description.

Though she didn't invoke the Creator's name aloud, it seemed Julia could tell she had in her head. "It is! You see geothermal power used a lot in regions like Alola," Shalin answered. "With how big Chimney's magma chamber is, I wouldn't be surprised if placed like Lavaridge Town used geothermal power, too. Better than burning the Tyrantrum away, like a lot of the world used to." With large-scale microwave power just around the corner, the wealthier countries in the world would soon have access to low-risk clean energy, but astronomical startup costs would keep less fortunate parts of the globe from being able to partake right away.

Following the magma's flow, it would be very easy for Shalin to determine that the room to the west would be ultra-heated. There was no point in going there. To the east she went! Beyond was a two-level labyrinth that would be simple for the two to fly over, if it weren't for a myriad of fire-type Pokémon ready to shoot them out of the sky. The grating separating the bottom level from the top level kept them safe if they went down there; it would simply be navigating its many twists and turns.

After a bit of trial and error, the duo would be able to navigate to the far side. Before them was a large valve connected to a pipe similar in size to the ones they could see in the previous hallways. "Julia, I think you might have your answer! Give me a hand turning this, would you?" Provided she could get help, the two would be able to loosen the valve with some difficulty. After several full rotations, the metal valve would get blazing hot. "Yeow!" Shalin cried, the heat running through her hands similar to what she felt near the palace's entrance in her first encounter with the ultra-heated area.

It was about to get far worse.

The grating keeping the duo safe from fire attacks receded into the ground. Furthermore, the temperature of the room began dramatically rising. "We have to get out of here, NOW!" Shalin cried, sending both of her flying Pokémon out. With no time to put her earplugs in, she would have to bear the loud noise. She was going to be the one to pilot her Beedrill, but Sandy scooped her up and flipped her trainer aboard, leaving Julia to sit astride Queen Zing. The magma was seeping in from the labyrinth's bottom level at an alarming rate. The two were going to bake if they didn't weave around the fire Pokémon that had their eyes on them!

If Julia thought the ride was rough already, flitting around FIRE BLASTs was going to make it a lot rougher. As much as Shalin wanted to Mega Evolve her, she knew how much of a personality change Mega Evolution made her undergo. She didn't want to see a Mega Beedrill sting pierce Julia, as the girl was in enough danger as is. With Queen Zing's unwillingness to pull the trigger on her Mega Evolution, she had few other options. A fierce TAILWIND blew behind the Flygon and Beedrill, the stinging insect's wings buzzing at full speed. Shalin would almost certainly have to check on Julia's hearing afterward, as that buzzing was loud from where she was at. She couldn't imagine how it must have been for the Ranger who sat between the yellow Pokémon's pounding, almost invisible wings. Even the normally mild Flygon's hum was starting to get loud, Shalin's skin tingling from the bursts of vibration during her dragon's sudden swerves.

A single Volcarona blocked the way, charging a FIRE BLAST to launch toward Julia and the Beedrill she was aboard. She was going too fast to weave around the Pokémon with any kind of reliability; instead, she pointed both her foreleg stings, whirlwinds surrounding them both as they rotated in a DRILL RUN that cleaved through the aggressive Pokémon. Shalin had no time to gasp in awe, though; she felt like she was on fire from how much the latent temperature of the magma-filled room had risen. Her Flygon landed, flung the west door open, and dove out of the inferno, Queen Zing doing so, as well.

Shalin rolled out of her Flygon's saddle. She, Sandy, and Queen Zing were all sprawled on the translucent tunnel's floor, drenched in sweat. The Beedrill in particular, her red, compound eyes flickering like a strobe light, looked like she was going to pass out completely. The tunnel's temperature, while still quite warm, felt like an icebox by comparison with the boiling room they had just come out of. She had to act fast.

Shalin sent out both Kiara, the injured and still-sleeping Pyroar, as well as Levy, her Milotic. "Levy, please... use your LIFE DEW..." she slurred in her dizziness and exhaustion. She had been trying to save the valuable group healing technique for as long as possible, but her team was so weary that they needed a pick-me-up. Barring very rare medicine such as MAX ETHER, it put so much stress on his body that he could only use it once without an extended rest. Any of Julia's Pokémon could benefit from it, too, if they wanted.

Once Shalin's squad was healed and Kiara had risen from her slumber, she waved to Julia immediately after. "Are you okay?!" she cried, not able to hear even her own voice through her ears ringing not from her Flygon's flight, but from wearing no ear protection while being so close to Queen Zing buzzing at full speed. She couldn't imagine how Julia felt, exposed to even more dangerous levels of sound. Not being used to such strong vibration probably didn't help matters, either. As much fun as riding on the giant wasp had to be in controlled conditions, it took getting used to!

Thankfully, the bee was only tired, not wounded. She would need a rest and some Hyper Potion, but there were very limited places that healing medicine could be used in a place filled with temperature extremes such as the reality-defying Mirage Palace. Shalin smiled as Julia affectionately pet Queen Zing. A courageous Ranger, indeed; despite the giant wasp acting more like a house pet, the barbed buzzer was still quite intimidating to the masses.

Once everyone, including Kiara, was feeling better (and at last awake,) Shalin got back on the lioness' back. She looked around in the transparent tunnel and noticed a shift in the lava flows. "I think that did it." The most obvious evidence was the lack of heat coming from the west side of the translucent tunnel's junction. Without the threat of heat to boil their blood away, the explorer felt much more comfortable taking a peek inside.

The chamber beyond looked much like the heated one the duo first found all the way back at the entrance, except the bottom half was filled with residue of dried magma, and there was not a single wild Pokémon in sight. The only difference was that there was a nearby access tunnel that the duo could squeeze through if they weren't riding a Pokémon. It appeared to go behind the location of each valve that controlled the magma flow, letting them make adjustments without running the risk of being roasted alive. Shalin rolled her eyes. "This would have been nice to know about oh, a half hour ago..."

A tunnel leading to an empty lava tube caught her eyes, Shalin and Kiara leading the way. A small amount of light filtered in beyond the basalt-tinted tube, letting her and Julia notice they could see where they were now from where they were before if they were being especially perceptive. The lion's footsteps, as well as Julia's, echoed with an eerie volume. It was way too quiet.

Even the formerly lava-filled chamber on the other side of the tunnel was devoid of the Magcargo and Chandelure that were there before. Without the lava lake impeding their progress, it was easy for them to advance west into what appeared to be another chamber where the lava flow could be controlled. This one, unlike the last one, had an access tunnel whose entrance was readily visible and not masked. They could safely adjust the molten rock's flow here, if they wanted. Alternatively, the southwest corner housed an upwards-leading staircase that disappeared into a bright, white light. This could only mean one thing: they might need to brave the elements again. "Could you imagine how big a city geothermal power like this could fuel?" Shalin asked, amazed at how something built so long ago could be so... advanced.