Helping Ice-type Pokémon deal with the extreme heat was not the only job Shalin had lined up for the day. She had a second job lined up south of Mossdeep, at a fishing charity event that had a lack of... well, fish. Shalin stood at the docks south of Mossdeep proper and sent out her Beedrill, Queen Zing. The giant bug-type embraced Shalin lovingly with both her foreleg stings before allowing her to scamper aboard. She put her earplugs in then checked the mission briefing one more time:

TO: Shalin Nariya (shalin.nariya@nariyaexpeditions.com)
CC: MATIAS SILPH (matias.silph@hoennleague.gov)
MISSION: "Charity Fishing"
PROTOCOL: Reconnaissance
DANGER: ★★☆☆☆

A series of channels south of Mossdeep City has held periodic charity fishing events for many, many seasons. This season, though, the reservoir's vast population of small Water-type Pokémon has all but vanished. Your mission is to investigate why, and if possible, set events in motion resulting in restoration of the population. Having Pokémon that can navigate a variety of marine and aerial environments is highly recommended. Please see attachment for the contest grounds' coordinates.

Good luck! We're all counting on you.

After reviewing the briefing on her phone, Shalin took off, her skin tingling during takeoff from the reverberations coursing through her Beedrill. Though the flight was a bit long for a Beedrill, it was well within the insect Pokémon's range. The contest took place on a somewhat small island, with a single building that used to be a Ranger outpost. She landed her Beedrill near there and quickly found what she expected was her partner. "Matias?" Shalin asked, taking her earplugs out after her mount's wings ceased their loud buzzing. "Shalin, wildest Pokémon rider this side of Hoenn! Nice to finally meet you in person."

Seeing her Beedrill needed a rest after carrying her across so much ocean, Shalin withdrew the tired Pokémon for a different aerial one, this one a Flygon. "Queen Zing doesn't have the range my other Pokémon do, but flying on her is so much fun! That's why I'm the wildest one. Who else have you seen flying on a Beedrill?" Not to be outdone by her bug-type companion, her dragon anchored her feel in the sand as much as she could before pointing her wings toward the sea, the two disappearing in a high pitched BUG BUZZ. It was still loud, but not deafening like an insect's. "She's Sandy, my Flygon. She flies more like an insect than a dragon, but I like it that way!" Her Pokémon faces Shalin and Matias, briefly fluttering her wings fast enough to make a low hum before hunching over to let Shalin climb on.

"We can survey the nearby seas, but I think our problem is going to lie underwater," Shalin suggested. "I have two water Pokémon, a Milotic and a Dewgong, if you need to use one. But for now, I like your idea of searching by air. If it's an aerial predator, we should probably scout out as many islets as possible in the channel." If this was the case, then this would be an open-and-shut mission. "If not, then I think we will need to go under the waves." Once the two formulated a game plan, she would grab her Flygon's reins and take off on the planned search path.

With their approach settled, Shalin put her earplugs in for the takeoff. With a chirp, Sandy's wings disappeared from plain sight, beating so rapidly as to be nearly invisible. Once they had lifted off, the noise became less of a buzz and more of a pleasant hum. It was to the point where once they were at altitude, and low altitude at that, she was able to remove her earplugs with no risk of hearing loss.

To their west, quite the storm seemed to be brewing. The rain would normally be a moon for fishers, but with most of the fish having vacated the area, the dreary weather wasn't going to help on its own.

Suddenly, a slipstream blew Shalin and her Flygon backward. The girl felt a sharp tingling from her right, then her left as the Flygon struggled to return to level flight in the TAILWIND that, to them, was a fierce headwind. It was a struggle, but the two working together were able to navigate behind Matias and let his Charizard deal with it long enough for her to get her earplugs back in. Whatever was doing this was strong if it could destabilize her insectile dragon-type.

Matias' warning could not have come a split second sooner. With the reaction time of a Ribombee, Sandy started to flee the charging Aerodactyl. Even with the Flygon's wings buzzing at full speed, there was no way Shalin was going to be able to outspeed the apex predator of the prehistoric Pokémon world. She had two water-type Pokémon with her, but neither one of them would be of any assistance; they were far too slow to reliably hit the wild with an aquatic attack that would knock it out of the sky. None of her other Pokémon would be able to effectively fight against it, either.

Then, remembering her trips into Shoal Cave, the young girl had an idea. While none of her Pokémon could fight the flying dinosaur, she could still fight on her own. It would be dangerous, but if it worked, she would be having the time of her life while Matias' Pokémon did the actual work!

The brave girl undid the cocoon part of the cocoon saddle keeping her in place on the dragon-type. While she had done this with several other Pokémon, most memorably the Alolan Ninetales now known as Letheia, this would only be her second time doing so with a flying-type. And this one was certainly more dangerous than a common Pidgeot. She slid off her Flygon's back as the Aerodactyl charged them.

It worked! With perfect timing, she landed on the Aerodactyl's back. The ancient Pokémon sounded a loud screech as its unwanted rider grabbed on near its rocky neck and held on tight. Without reins to control the hunter, though, she was a mere passenger. She had Levy, her Milotic, at the ready for when the Aerodactyl flung her off. With a Pokémon that strong, her getting bucked off was not an if. It was a when. She would try to last as long as she could, though! It would be quite the distraction from Matias and his Charizard fighting back!

The flying-type let out a bird-like shriek as it felt the girl's hands wrap around it just in front of the base of its neck, her legs just in front of its wings. Its blood-red eyes were all that Matias needed to know that it was furious at her. The violent Pokémon flew above the eastern Hoennian seas, swerving about in an attempt to forcefully dismount Shalin. Her hands were already whitening as the Aerodactyl added a potent thrash or two to the mix. "Wahoo!" Shalin blissfully cried, lost in the adrenaline rush while absorbing the force of the bucking motion.

That annoying girl on the wild Pokémon's back was persistent, like a flea tormenting a Lillipup. It has one more brutal tactic to dislodge Shalin, though. The wild soared high above the sea, then tucked its wings in and dove toward the sea like a falling meteor. The force of the dive left Shalin feeling weightless. From the moment she captured Zuh, her Pidgeot, she knew what was coming. And this was far faster. Her four points of contact were all that kept her on the diving Pokémon. Seconds before the rock-type would have impacted the surface, it unfurled its wings in a barrel roll and beat them in a potent WING ATTACK, flinging Shalin off its back slingshot-style.

Shalin had such a fun time riding the Aerodactyl! She would have to keep her eyes out for one and catch it for sure! Not this one, though; with how much of a handful Letheia was even tamed, she knew it took much longer for Pokémon she had captured by riding them wile they were still wild. She hurtled toward the sea's surface in a big splash, though that was far better than the alternative of being squeezed and wrung out by the G-force the rock-type's swoop would have put on her.

The weakened Aerodactyl was furious, again diving after Shalin, though it quickly changed its mind after she sent out her Dewgong. Its decision to retreat was the biggest factor in letting it dodge the brunt of Artea's ICICLE SPEAR. The graze was enough for Sandy to see an opening, though; the small amount of frost that had formed on the foe's rocky body was enough to make it vulnerable to the fiercest attack the Flygon knew how to perform, and one even Shalin didn't dare call out while mounted.

The Flygon's wings fully disappeared in a high pitched, almost scream-like whine. The dragon-type was visibly shaking from the speed and power her wings put on display. Even in a cocoon saddle, Shalin would have been unimaginably sore from how violent her Pokémon's motions were mid-BOOMBURST. She wanted to be able to endure something like that, but she was unsure whether that was a lack of trianing on her part or sheer human limitations. The shock wave from the sound overload deepened the cracks formed by ice buildup inside the Aerodactyl's rock armor, the wild tumbling onto a nearby sandbar. Shalin took several deep breaths from Artea's back as Sandy returned to her, flying like a bird now rather than a dragon due to the strain the attack put on her wings.