Rielle let out a coo, directing her trainer's attention toward a young-looking Eevee whose tail was floating back and forth. "Aww, look! I think the little one's looking for a new friend!" Shalin observed aloud, the Vaporeon crouching to make it easier to keep eye contact with the smaller Normal-type. As the two were at play, the explorer noticed the collar and identifying engravement on it.

"Is Eon your name?" Shalin softly asked, taking a look around for the Pokémon's owner. Though she saw a geared-up Pidgeot that reminded her of Zuh, her own Pokémon of the same species, the giant bird was obscuring her vision of his trainer. She stood up, stacked her medallions and took them with her, taking a look around where the Pidgeot was roosting. Kiara walked alongside her in case things escalated, though the Pokémon seemed well-behaved enough that she didn't expect anything to go wrong.

Letheia slid to a sudden stop after the brightly-glowing Illumina Eevee ran into her, startling her. She reared in fright, Shalin's knuckles turning white as the gripped her mount with all the strength she had, expecting the ice-type to go into one of her bucking frenzies typical after being scared. Kiara let out a warning roar, which was followed by the sound of the drone of an insect's wings. Behind Shalin flew a Queen Beedrill that was, just like the Alolan Ninetales, excessively large for its species. The Beedrill was even wearing a saddle. Who would be brave enough, or foolish enough, to try to ride a Beedrill, even if it was big and strong enough to carry someone? This short, green-ette, apparently. Wait, were they all ride Pokémon?

Once the Beedrill landed, all three Pokémon greeted Eris and the Eevee as Shalin introduced herself and made small talk about Cait. "I've never seen an Eevee like that, and I've raised several myself! Name's Shalin, the wildest Pokémon rider this side of Hoenn! These three are some of my closest Pokémon: Letheia under me, then Kiara next to me. Behind me is Queen Zing, She's the nicest, friendliest Beedrill you'll ever meet!" As if to say hello on her own, she would wave the flat of her foreleg sting toward Eris.

"That glow!" Shalin answered, referring to the Illumina phenomenon but having no idea what the name was. "I've never seen anything like that before! It looks so... beautiful. So breathtaking." Even the Pokémon she had out of their Balls were entranced by the playful Eevee. She blinked and turned to face Eris. When she looked back at the Eevee, it looked like an ordinary Eevee, perhaps just a bit big for its kind. "I could have sworn I saw something. Maybe it was just me?"

Letheia tried to impress the Eevee glow with a discharge of her DAZZLING GLEAM on its very lowest setting: just a bright flash, with no capability to harm. It might have agitated Kiara a little, but Queen Zing didn't seem to mind. "What's your name?" she asked. "You seem like a nice, young lady!" She withdrew Queen Zing for a much less noisy Pokémon: Starr, her shiny ride Espeon, who was quick to converse with the Illumina Eevee.

"I must have just been seeing things," Shalin sheepishly shrugged. "Cait's well-behaved and well-raised. Have you decided what you want to evolve them into, if at all?" she tried to make small talk with the young lass as Letheia's light show seemed to spook the little one. "It's okay!" the young Ranger-to-be spoke in a soft voice to try to comfort the small Pokémon. "She didn't mean any harm!"

The Luxray that Cait was hiding behind was fierce-looking. "Your Luxray looks very well-raised and strong, too. Certainly a Pokémon I wouldn't want to lock horns with." Starr would also attempt to mentally greet the Luxray, sharing stories of the many misadventures she had been on with her trainer. "Where are you headed, if I may ask? I've got to go back up to the Shark's Maw on top of Meteor Falls. There's been new rumors flying around about that place, and I want to investigate."

When asked about the Shark's Maw, Shalin deeply sighed. "Oh, boy, where to even start?" Letheia let out a coo of her own when Shalin mentioned the place; that dragon shrine was her place to shine. "I first discovered it when the Space-Time Distortion over Meteor Falls appeared. Then, some months later, I came back there with Isaac Merlo to excavate this from within a buried labyrinth dedicated to dragonkind." Digging into her backpack, she pulled out a purple medallion the size of her hand, on one face an etching of the Skylord, Rayquaza. "There's eight of these throughout Hoenn, and I've tracked down seven of them. The eighth one is in such a remote and dangerous location that I'm not comfortable going there alone."

Finding that Reiner and Cait may not have preferred direct mental communication, Starr began to physically speak to them using the Pokémon language instead, repeating parts of the story so both of them could hear clearly. "Remember when all the new Pokémon started popping up in Hoenn after Meteno? Supposedly most of the dragon Pokémon set up their nests around or inside the place, and there's a whole subterranean level that's opened up since. I want to take a look and see if there's any treasure that will help my dragon Pokémon up there!" Of course, the true treasure was not an object of worth, but the thrill of discovery.

Though Eris did have a point, Shalin had already crossed that bridge. Each of the seven sanctuaries she had visited were guarded by a fierce Pokémon... or in some cases, more than one. "Letheia here was actually a guardian of one of those seven medallions before I caught her. She's one tough Ninetales." If her giant size was any indicator of her strength, then she had to be in the top one percent. Shalin knew; when trying to hunt this behemoth down, she had bucked her off twice. Even in play, the Ninetales was more than capable of unseating her trainer.

"Isaac Merlo and I only took what we needed to survive, as well as the Medallion. You're right... might be better just to plan on having a look around." It was good to know where a nice supply of Mago Berries and Haban Berries grew, particularly the latter. Having a solid crop of those handy would be very helpful for their properties to weaken oncoming attacks of dragon Pokémon. "I just worry about... all the calamities in Hoenn. I want to do my part to keep Hoenn safe. After I captured Letheia, I could tell she wouldn't want to accept any other trainer. She wants to see what happens when all eight are gathered in their rightful place: the Halls of Origin."

The Halls of Origin may have been a name familiar to Eris through Team Rocket. It was underneath Sootopolis, after all, and several Rockets had been spying on her when she and SASHA LIVINGSTONE made their way into the undersea cave leading to its grey walls. Perhaps she would be one of the reasons THEO BECKETT would take interest in tailing her into the sacred grounds sealed for centuries...