”A lot might be an understatement, but I have some with me. The more seasoned ones, at least. But no worries, the team I’ve brought along is used to exploring uncharted territory.” The redhead reassures her friend, though the supposedly reassuring smile that came with it lingered only half that long. In all these years she’d been traveling, the one thing she’d learnt was to never be naive enough to think things will just ‘work out’.

Yvaine'd made that mistake very early on in her career, and still carried the scars of that fated error even after all these years. Which was also the reason of her solitary existence up until a year ago. Had someone told her past self that she'd be found sitting here, about to traverse uncharted, highly dangerous terrain with not a partner but a friend, of all things, she'd have laughed at them in their face. Now however, she was actually humbled by it. And it showed, because she'd set out to join Shalin the very moment she'd received the call; if it were an adventure with a like-minded craze like herself, she was certain it would be worth their whiles— that, and the fact she could repay the Wildest Rider for everything she'd shown her so far.

"How exactly are we going to enter this thing though? Gauging from the fact you mentioned there's no proper signage I'm not expecting it to be in plain sight… nor somewhere conventional, to begin with." She'd made sure to have sufficient equipment with her; things that could weather the elements in a far greater capacity than normal gear could. Using one's pokémon while exploring unknown areas -in her opinion- was last-resort, when mortal means were no longer an option, or the situation would jeopardise the explorer's health. Even if that meant scaling fiery craters by hand; it wasn't like she hadn't done so before.


Shalin Nariya

"Good, because we're going to need every single one of them we can get," Shalin answered as the gondola arrived at its final stop: the peak of Mount Chimney. One of the most dangerous places in Hoenn, she could feel the heat bubbling upward from the active volcano's crater shortly after stepping outside. "You might even want one now," she advised as she sent out her Vaporeon that was about as tall as she was. Like almost every Pokémon of hers, this one was geared to seat a single rider. "This is Rielle," she introduced the water-type, who was quick to crouch and let her trainer aboard. Once she was secure and she had the Vaporeon's reins in hand, a HYDRATION-fueled veil of water surrounded the duo. "This is why I had to order her saddle and bridle waterproofed."

Shalin laughed at Yvaine's remark. "I already know where it is!" Her smile grew to a grin; if it weren't for Ashley Shepard helping out with surveying the crater, she never would have found it. She pointed to a dome of rock toward the northwest side of the crater, with a couple of large holes toward the bottom. "It's in there. You might understand why the Rangers won't leave signage there." The reasoning was quite obvious: a flying-type Pokémon, a nimble one at that, was all that could maneuver into the relatively small space with a human on its back. On top of that, the flying-type had to be able to handle heat well, as the entrance was dangerously close to the magma. One touch of that, and all but the hardiest fire-types, and their riders, would turn to a smoldering pile of ash. "I want to get as close to it as possible before we go flying. If you don't have your own Pokémon that can make it, I have Sandy, my Flygon."

Regardless of their arrangements, Shalin would lead the way around the crater in a clockwise fashion, giving predators like Houndoom and Typhlosion a very wide berth. There would be enough danger once they got inside. "Check your supplies one more time before we go in and make sure you have everything you need." Hyper Potion? Check. Full Heal? Check. Max Revive for emergencies? Check. Water and rations? Check and check. All was good on her end. Steam started to surround the two as they got deeper into the crater, Turtonator and Rhyperior taking a bath in the crater's magma. As easy as surfing across the magma was in theory with the correct Pokémon, it would leave the human riders too close to the broiling heat source for too long to survive. Flying was the only way.

Once the two had reached the perfect angle, the sound of bubbling magma drowning out other ambiance, Shalin breathed a deep sigh, pointing to the hemispheroid tunnel near the dome's base. Whether Yvaine had their own ride that could handle it or not, she dismounted Rielle and switched rides to Sandy, her Flygon. It was mere seconds before she could tell the difference without Rielle's HYDRATION protecting her. The very air around her was burning, as though her clothes could catch fire at any moment. "We need to go, now!" she urged, keeping speech short to keep as many embers as possible out of her lungs.

Whether on her own or with Yvaine riding with her, Shalin spurred Sandy toward the tunnel, her wings humming loudly in swift, insect-like flight. As the duo approached the tunnel, the heat of the magma beneath her started to cook her feet, not taking long for Rielle's water to evaporate. Her own perspiration followed shortly after that. Having previously probed the tunnel with Sandy and a camera helped a lot, but seeing it with her own eyes was totally different. One false move, and she would be mere ash in Hoenn's tallest mountain.

The hardest part was ahead: while the tunnel widened, it also was filled with blade-like rock formations pointing every which way. They looked sharp enough to cut if impacted at high speed. Furthermore, its end turned vertical, the north end covered in a rumbling magmafall. There was no dodging the ruthless elements anymore. Shalin bit her tongue wanting to scream from both her legs feeling like they were on fire. She felt like chugging several bottles of water when they touched down; it was a good thing she brought an ample, insulated supply!

After what felt like the longest ascent of her life, she witnessed a volcanic landscape that Shalin and Yvaine were likely the first in centuries to set their eyes on. Powerful fire-type Pokémon were commonplace inside the dome lit only by the reflection of magma's light, a sky of nothing but brown and black rock. Had she not been a direct witness to it, Yvaine may not have believed her that such a place even existed. Julia Davis probably wouldn't have either; if anything, she'd probably feel Hoenn's Wildest Rider was reckless for even considering coming here. But she had to, for Hoenn's sake. The Thermal Medallion was somewhere down here.

And she was going to find it.

Although she had not been atop Mt. Pyre for a long, long time, and never to explore its crater past the recreational sight-seeing tours, seeing it felt like returning home somehow. A warm welcome, if she had to put it jokingly. Peering at the lava bubbling down below reminded her of her early training days back in Almia, of Boyle Volcano, that had functioned as one of many training areas when she was still young. Her father had been flawless -and both lawless- in that regard; he wanted her to be prepared for every extremity, and groomed her as thus.

And to the idol she’d always looked up to, she would never protest. Even if outsiders looked at her father funnily when she busted out her stories; either in worry, or with eyes urging him to tell his daughter not to spout such tall tales.

Said ‘tall tales’ however were what made her the mercenary she was today, and she never once regretted the skills she’d been taught, no matter how dubious the ways in which she was taught them were.

She watched as Shalin called out a most-familiar Flygon, recognizing the giant from their outing to Oldale not too long ago. Next was the Wild Rider’s Vaporeon, who’d been aptly decked out for this endeavor; a well-placed Hydration kept both trainer and mount cool in this heated environment.

When Shalin pointed at the entrance, across the other side, and quite a distance down into the crater, Yvaine nodded sagely. ”Okay, I see why they wouldn’t exactly be jumping to put down signals down there,” she replied, both in understanding and slightly jokingly fashion, then peered down a bit further to get a better layout of the area below and the pokémon frequenting its vicinity. The ones closest by the entrance that she could make out were a handful of Turkoal and a lone Rhyperior that had taken to the lava lake for their daily swimming session, but there was no saying what others loomed nearby, hidden from their sight. Suggesting to go around and descend from a closer vantage point, Yvaine friendly declined her friend’s offer to ride Sandy, and instead opted for her own Cryogonal, which could be ridden in the most unconventional of ways. It was strong enough to carry its own weight and extra through its LEVITATE ability, and with the help of Freeze-Dry it would be able to keep the temperature for itself and Yvaine far more bearable.

The mercenary signaled a thumbs up when asked to check her gear a final time, and pulled a pair of goggles to protect her eyes from ashes, ember and the potential dirt being thrown around in the hot air streams within the caldera, and a heat-resistant mask that covered her nose and mouth. The latter would help filter out the toxic gasses released by the volcano. Though Shalin had taken off before she could offer her the spare mask she’d brought along, and by the time she reached her again –shouting after her would’ve attracted the pokémon they were trying to bypass, so she hadn’t resorted to that for both their safety’s sake–, her friend urged her to get going, making her miss her timing. Yvaine followed suit however, plunging through the cavernous tunnel while holding on tightly to her Cryogonal’s back. Although they weren’t as fast as the others, it made maneuvering that much easier, and the rock protrusions within the tunnel became easily dodgeable as a result.

The continued heat of the lava was less of an issue for the mercenary, who’d opted for a thermal suit able to resist most of the heat. Not that she didn’t feel uncomfortable at times, as despite its protection it by no means was a full-on shield against such extreme temperatures, but at least it didn’t feel like she was burning. All thanks to her Oblivian supplier.

By the time they surfaced from the tunnel, which has taken a dramatic vertical turn and forced them up, a volcanic fire-wonderland had stretched itself before them, reminding her of Faldera Island… well, of the inner-most parts, at least. She’d not expected such a biome to exist within the volcano’s depths, nor that she would be lucky enough to witness it. Leading her Cryogonal closer to Shalin and Sandy, Yvaine tried to flag her attention and tossed her the mask once she’d managed to get her friend’s eyes on her, motioning to put it on. ”Trust me,” Yvaine spoke, her voice sounding like she spoke through a transmitter instead. ”The toxic gasses will get to your head soon enough if you keep inhaling them without it, and we’ll be forced to return within the hour. Doubt you’d fancy that.” She might not see, but the mercenary was smiling behind her mask, and turned her attention back to the lavascape expanding beyond her view.

”This is amazing though… I wonder how all these pokémon would react to human contact after all these years? Do they have ways to return to the surface, or have they adjusted to life within this dome?” she wondered out loud, curiosity budding with every passing second. Her Cryogonal was still softly releasing its Dry-Freeze, allowing for the four of them to enjoy a somewhat cooler temperature.



Shalin Nariya

Team:
Cryogonal (Levitate - Freeze-Dry/Bind/Acid Armor/Recover/Night Slash)

Cryogonal was a daring yet ingenious choice to get through the inferno that was the lavafall-tilled tunnel: the extreme heat from the environment and the extreme cold of the ice-type's body would offset one another. It may have been the only place in Hoenn where it was safe for a human to ride one. The levitation and the easy ability to find purchase within the Cryogonal's snowflake-shaped body made holding on a breeze. Had she known Yvaine had a Pokémon like that, she wouldn't have put her Flygon through such intense conditions.

Yvaine's decision to come in a full thermal suit would prove to be invaluable, as Shalin relied on her Water-type and Ice-type Pokémon to keep her cool in the inhospitable heat. Plus, a thermal suit was way out of her startup's budget, given how infrequently she went to areas that needed one. That might change in the near future, given the doors to travel to other regions were open now.

Yvaine had tossed Shalin a gas mask to explore the interior of the basalt dome that was bright as daylight, yet had not seen the light of the sun since the seismic event that had created it. "Good call," Shalin answered, donning the piece of headgear. Once she was certain she could breathe through the mask, she, too, took in the view. Hidden from all but the most intrepid and reckless adventurers was the most striking volcanic wasteland Shalin had ever seen. To her surprise, her phone was still working despite the harsh environment. Though she had to set it to local mode before it would function without an Internet connection, she took several photos of the dome's exterior, as well as one of the entrance to the labyrinth ahead of them, before getting a warning of an imminent device shutdown.

Maybe it wasn't working, after all.

"Guess I'll have to remember this place in my head. If this is anything like the other places I've been to, pictures will still be valuable, but I'll need to limit it to only truly necessary things. It's going to have a hard time cooling off enough to work." With that, she hopped off her Flygon, swapping her out for Letheia, her Alolan Ninetales. It was very important for her to switch between Letheia and Rielle regularly to avoid overheating either one of them. She had Kiara in a pinch, but the Pyroar's heat-manipulation powers would only do so much good in an environment this hostile.

Overlooking the true entrance to Death Crater, the number of tunnels, nests of extremely powerful fire Pokémon, and pools of magma littered just in sight was simply staggering. The interior of the crater was almost like a three-dimensional maze. The only respite the two had was that the maze was well lit by red and orange light reflecting shed by the crater's glopping magma.

Both paths before them were dangerous; to their north, a narrow pass guarded by several Magmortar, one of which opened fire with its right cannon's FIRE BLAST not a moment after Letheia stepped around the corner. Both Pokémon and rider lurched backward, the volume of the resulting explosion giving Yvaine a good idea how serious it was.

The second wasn't much better; to their west, magma bubbled almost all the way up to the surface, making the wide cavern unbearably hot. It was similar in temperature to the heated rooms at the Mirage Palace. The difference here was there was likely no valve to redirect the flow of magma with. She would be forced to brave the heat or find a natural way to drain the magma. Neither option was great. "This is...already na-na-nasty," Shalin stuttered. Was she getting in over her head?

Yvaine watched Shalin pop out her phone, leaving the mercenary in surprise when the device actually seemed to keep on working--until a certain degree. When she then mentioned only taking pictures of the truly necessary things, Yvaine nodded. "If anything, I can always try to make a few quick sketches of things." The redhead offered as they continued. "Might not be as detailed, but I'm sure you can find an artist that can give you a more detailed rendering based off of a sketch and a verbal explanation of what we saw." A mere suggestion, but it was something, at least.

Unlike her partner however, Yvaine kept her Cryogonal out and about to serve as her cooling point. Although she could switch her pokémon out like Shalin had and keep their exposure to a minimum, Yvaine would rather not expose the rest of her team unnecessarily, especially when her current pokémon was still more than capable of holding on. It was a bit more cruel in that regard, too, since she would only switch it out once her Cryogonal would start showing signs of exhaustion, and no moment sooner. And most of her team were pokémon sharing a rather tenacious mindset; they didn't want to show weakness until a critical point. Their trainer knew this, but refused to act on it prematurely. They were like her in that regard. It was just their way of doing things; and in the eyes of others, it could be seen as a bad thing.

Upon seeing the maze, and Death Crater's apparant true entrance, stretch out before them, Yvaine let out an amazed whistle. "Well would I ever... at least we won't need anything to light the way." she said jokingly, squatting down to touch the ground for a reason only she knew. Her actions were the only reason she was still at a safe distance from the sudden Fire Blast being thrown at Shalin and her Alolan Ninetails, as the noise and explosion that followed had her back up on her feet in no-time. Yvaine gave both options a moment of thought, then shook her head and turned towards the ranger.

"It's going to get hot under our feet rather quickly at this rate, but I suggest we opt out of fights for the time being and maybe focus on the west side? I'll try to keep Cryogonal's Freeze-Dry up for as long as I can, but if we find a way to redirect the magma away from us things should become at least somewhat more bearable for us... if we can't find a way, guess we'll just have to teach those Magmortar who's boss, no?" There was a daring smile to her words, and she roughly patted the rider's back as she moved WEST, her Cryogonal following behind her, keeping a lookout while continuing to use Freeze-Dry. Although a vantage point would've been handy to see what their options were with the magma flow, she also didn't want to be out in the open too much and paint a target on their backs.




Shalin Nariya

Team:
Cryogonal (Levitate - Freeze-Dry/Bind/Acid Armor/Recover/Night Slash)

"That's a great backup plan," Shalin agreed. "I'd prefer to have high resolution photos, but a sketch will work in a pinch." High heat from Magmortar firing their cannons at Shalin and Yvaine, or high heat from magmatic convection... they would have to deal with high heat one way or another. "Alright...I trust you and your Cryogonal." Shalin withdrew Sandy and hopped on Starr, her Espeon, who would be able to remain underneath the Ice-type's FREEZE-DRY more easily. Breathing a deep sigh, she pressed on alongside the mercenary.

Even with the protection of FREEZE-DRY, the ultraheated room was still... well, hot. Only it was bearable. Magcargo, Centiskorch, and Turtonator were all taking baths in the magma, enjoying the volcanic gases flowing around them too much to notice the duo and their Pokémon that would have burned up if not for the powerful Ice-type. A steeply rising tunnel in the back led the two to a much cooler, but still hot, wing of the crater, its basalt surface matching the texture of the dome. Was this the dome's inner surface keeping the volcanic ecosystem self-contained?

With the closest source of magma far below, this would be a good opportunity for Yvaine's Cryogonal to rest up. Their vantage point also gave Shalin a good view of the west side of the crater. There were plenty of places where Shalin would be forced to hop on a flying-type or dismount, as a land Pokémon simply would not be a viable mount with how narrow some of the spans connection sections of the crater were. The number of tunnel entrance she could see was staggering, too. Navigating the made that was Death Crater would require more trial and error than she could have ever anticipated, and with not only wild Pokémon, but the environment itself, wearing away at the stamina of her Pokémon, time was not on their side.