I hope we're not holding her up...!

Thinking back, it might have been good to try to coordinate a time to meet up, rather than just having the starting location and the tracking frequency and nothing else... but in her defense, Shouko wasn't used to thinking about these sorts of things yet! The distinct ring of a bell carried ahead of her as she jogged through Oldale town toward the north gate, the orb inside of her Chingling clanging back and forth inside of it as she cradled the small Pokemon against her chest.

But maybe she was in luck!

As she neared the gate, she could make out the silhouettes of two large Bug-types, along with a figure clambered atop one of them. Her heart already thumping, she pressed herself to run a little faster, and closed the distance between herself and the small party of ranger and partners.

"Hey...! Are... are you..." Shouko started, sucking in breath between her words. She quickly gave up on trying to speak and took a moment to catch her breath, allowing the Chingling to float up from her grasp to inspect the group as a whole. "...sorry... are you Shalin...?"

After training with her bug Pokémon for so long while using her Sygna Suit, it felt a little strange being atop one of them without wearing it. Rather than seeing her surroundings in a slight tint of red, she saw it all in full color. Her thighs were also still slightly sore from how hard she had been working on getting used to what her suit was capable of. While her suit made it possible to withstand, there was still the physical reality of the giant insects' wings subjecting her to physical motion the human body really wasn't designed to be exposed to.

"I'm in no hurry! You don't need to wear yourself out!" Shalin called back, slowly turning her bug-type mount around. Flit crawled toward Shouko and greeted him with the least intimidating face a Yanmega could make. The species was still generally terrifying to see, even at more normal sizes rather than the large one that looked ready to carry a human on his back. "...Shouko?" Shalin assumed. "That's me, Shalin! Hoenn's wildest Pokémon rider!" she introduced herself with her usual flair. Queen Zing raised the flat of one of her foreleg stings and waved.

Provided Shouko would confirm her identity, Shalin would know she had the right person. "Then I assume you read the email I forwarded to you, so you know what's up." She gestured toward the saddle on Flit's back. "The fastest way to find this Thievul is by air. Once we find it, we'll land a distance away and approach from the ground. If you don't have your own Pokémon to fly on, I've got Flit here!" While she didn't intend to scare the woman away, she well could have with the prospect of flying on something so strong...

---

Shouko Kawade

{WC: 298}
{PC: 2}

NAME           SPECIES         STATUS
Queen Zing     Beedrill**      Good
Flit           Yanmega         Good
Squeals        Raticate        Good
Starr          Espeon**        Good
Treble         Kommo-o         Good
Caprice        K!Ninetales     Good

Shouko gave a small nod as Shalin spoke up, smiling a little as she slowly caught her breath. It was at least good to have it confirmed that she'd found the person she was supposed to meet up with. "Yeah, I'm Shouko Kawade," the trainer said after a final deep breath, finally composing herself enough to really push upright properly again and examine the party a little more thoroughly.

Chingling gradually floated back down as the Yanmega approached her trainer, curiously investigating the sky hunter as gave a greeting. Chingling's curiosity, however, was immediately eclipsed by Shouko's awe. "Is this a Yawnmega?" The young woman leaned in close, her eyes widening a little as she studied its predatory figure closely, gradually taking steps around the side of it as she did. "Yanmega swarmed around my house in Johto when I was real little, and I'd always wanted to go out and chase after them... oh, this is so cool..."

Cautiously, she reached out and caressed the metallic carapace that covered the Bug-type's body.

"...o-oh, uhm... yeah, I did get to read the email, of course!" Shouko said after a moment, blushing as she realized that her own eagerness to check out a Yanmega up close had gotten the best of her and blinded her to proper manners... she glanced up at Shalin again, smiling. "I don't have anything that can fly at the moment... is it really okay for me to fly on... Flit?" She glanced uncertainly between the Pokemon she still had her hand on and the trainer that'd already offered him up, a mix of excitement and nerves evident in her hesitant expression.

"Great to meet you, Shouko!" Shalin chirped as the Yanmega's compound eyes followed the young female. "Indeed, Flit is a Yanmega! And a big one at that." The average-sized Yanmega was only large enough to wrap its legs around a human and carry them that way, but this one was big enough to wear a saddle for even a large human to sit on! The reins attached to him, as well as those of her Shiny Beedrill, were indicative of how well-behaved the insectile predators were.

"Wait, you said Johto?" Shalin asked. "I'm also from Johto! What part of the region, if I may ask? I lived up by Ecruteak before moving to Petalburg Woods." She appreciated the girl's enthusiasm over bug Pokémon. To Shalin, it was fascinating how nimble they were; even the overgrown ones she had out of their Poké Balls could turn on a dime.

While the Yanmega's exoskeleton wasn't exactly metallic, it had the toughness of metal, which was extremely important for the species. After all, their bodies had to be able to withstand the enormous stress their wings put on their entire bodies during regular flight, let alone if they were to unleash their ultimate attack, BUG BUZZ. The Johtonian and Sinnohite species was well known for having one of the loudest drones among all insectile Pokémon, after all!

When questioned about whether flying on Flit was okay, Shalin smiled and pulled two pairs of earplugs out, one for each of them. "Of course it is! You'll just want to put these in your ears first. After all, you'll be sitting mere feet from his wings beating a rough one hundred times per second. Might blow out your ears without them. I promise, though, it's worth the trouble!"

---

Shouko Kawade

{WC: 295}
{PC: 3}

NAME           SPECIES         STATUS
Queen Zing     Beedrill**      Good
Flit           Yanmega         Good
Squeals        Raticate        Good
Starr          Espeon**        Good
Treble         Kommo-o         Good
Caprice        K!Ninetales     Good