"Will do!" Shalin smiled back, as did Starr. The Espeon seemed just as excited to delve into the unknown as her rider was. "I'll make sure to email you my findings when I return from my first trip." Yes, there was a lot of work to do. Yes, this would be a months-long endeavor. Would it be worth it? Absolutely. It had taken her months to gather the medallions needed to enter the Halls of Origin beneath Sootopolis. But that would have to be put on hold now. This task was much more important.

"Awesome, thank you!" Shalin replied, her green Pokémon crouching. After the trainer straddled her Pokémon, Starr stood up and lifted her into place aboard the shiny psychic-type. "It's a fairly common move. I can't imagine there being too much legwork involved. Once I can teach it to her, I'll use it to collect as much information as I can about the rifts."

As Shalin felt her Espeon harness her up with her psychic power, she asked Illeana, "Anything else I need to know before we take off?"

And with that, the meeting had drawn to a close, an agreement that Shalin would help explore the many rifts that had appeared. Little did she know of the true danger she would put herself in! It would be just as the scientist warned: every realm would truly be unlike anything she had seen before, and would be more dangerous than anything she had ever seen before. Exploring beneath the superheated Death Crater of Mount Chimney would be child's play compared to these realms.

"Great! I promise I'll keep in touch. And if you make any more discoveries about Alpha Pokémon, keep me in the loop. I may have to get in touch with you about doing original research on them myself." Shalin guided Starr toward Illeana to allow her to pet her if she so desired. "Will do!" And with that, the Espeon turned around and bounded north, away from the quaint town.