As fun as it was putting her red-and-green suit to the test and indulging herself with its physics-defying power, she couldn't wear herself out before a fairly dangerous journey. It may have come to great surprise to Alba Evovae when he saw the young girl somehow seated on one of the enormous dragonfly's wings, only becoming clearly visible once Flit relaxed them. She swayed about on the wing that Flit only moved to keep the woozy girl from tumbling off. While her legs didn't feel like jelly this time, Flit didn't take any risks, giving her a minute or two before lowering them to the point where she could safely dismount.

"That's me, the wildest Pokémon rider this side of Hoenn!" she introduced herself. No shit, Sherlock; physics would suggest her entire body be turned to mush after such violent, invisibly fast motion. "The power of Infinity Energy is something else, isn't it?" she mused. "Alba, I presume? You're the one to visit the Mirage Palace with me, are you? A place no Ranger will take you. Though only discovered last year, it has an important place in Hoenn's history, as one of the locations of the Medallions of Eight now at rest inside the Halls of Origin."

Shalin circled around to shake the scientist's hand if he allowed it. "These two are Queen Zing and Flit, two of my most loyal flying Pokémon!" She introduced her Yanmega and Shiny Beedrill. "They look intimidating, but they're the sweetest souls you'll ever meet." As to prove it, the giant Queen Beedrill waved the flat of one of her foreleg stings toward Alba, as though to say hello. "The fastest way to get to the palace is above the canyon. Both of them are reliable - you're welcome to hop on one of them!" Queen Zing's blue eyes lit up at the idea of a guest in her saddle. This girl had to truly be wild to rein up Bug Pokémon, of all things.

"It'll be a pleasure!" Shalin smiled as she took out a set of earplugs and presented them to Alba. "You'll want to wear these before we take off. After all, you'll be sitting a few feet from Queen Zing's wings beating a rough one hundred times per second." Once Alba was ready to fly, Shalin would hop on Flit's back. A deafening drone filled the air around the duo, Alba perhaps able to feel quite a bit of tingling from the Beedrill's shaking exoskeleton as they took to the air. Once they were airborne, though, the shaking would become much more manageable.

The insects bobbed and weaved around the canyon, many steam vents passing beneath them. They were quite nimble; far more so than most common Pokémon typically used as aerial mounts. But that was part of the fun! The girl let out a cry as her Yanmega zipped about. Queen Zing would be inclined to do the same if Alba allowed her to do so.

Once they had arrived at the palace that looked like it came straight out of a fantasy novel, the bug-types landed, Queen Zing planting her powerful stings into the ground and resting her wings. Shalin stayed on her Yanmega for a bit, cautioning Alba to do the same. She disabled the noise canceling of her suit and started to tell the story of the Medallions of Eight and the Halls of Origin.

"Long ago, Hoenn's ancient civilization had learned of a great power deep within the Halls of Origin beneath Sootopolis," she began to recount as the tingling feeling in all her limbs slowly went away. "While the only power that remains there would be the discovery of a Space-Time Distortion, the center of which is capable of hatching Ultra Beast eggs, I ran into evidence of other, far more destructive powers being harbored within. So powerful that the ancients had to seal them all away with eight Medallions, which were hidden in the most remote, most dangerous corners of Hoenn."

She gestured toward a shimmering palace inexplicably built on a precipitous pillar of rock above magma deep below. Its top floor was shrouded in a veil of white light. Halfway across a moat of magma was a sign that seemed to float in midair, in defiance of gravity. Labeled with the Rangers' logo, it was a warning to stay away. "Erected in defiance of reality, the Mirage Palace before you was where the fifth such Medallion was located." She pulled out a replica of the hand-sized, red-and-purple object with the legendary Pokémon Volcanion's image on it. "Of course, this is just a reproduction; the original rests within the Halls of Origin now."

There would have been no need for Alba to remove his earplugs to hear what the giant wings sounded like; the loud drone was strong enough for him to hear it even with earplugs in, albeit at a comfortable volume. The unsteady hum was a sign of the tremendous power needed to lift both herself and her rider into the air. With the tingling feeling in her limbs gone, Shalin withdrew Flit, then Queen Zing so that Alba could land on his own two feet.

"They unfortunately won't be able to handle the elements inside," she warned, instead sending out a pair of rather large, saddled Ninetales. "These two will be much better for that." Both looked tame but fierce at the same time. "Letheia and Caprice here," she introduced the Alolan and Kantonian Ninetales, respectively, "are both reliable. The wildlife inside the place is pretty aggressive, and I've found the mobility of riding a Pokémon is helpful for staying out of danger. Ever been on a Ninetales before?"

At the mention of carrying a guest on their backs, both giant foxes tensed, their piercing gazes shifting toward their trainer. Shaking their heads, both of them reluctantly crouched. "Of course, if you have your own Pokémon you trust more, you can use yours!" The fire-type in particular hoped the latter was the case.

Shalin was an unusual one, all of her Pokémon suited for it. Many trainers had one to three ride Pokémon they designated for the task: one for land, one for sea, and one for sky. She could provide transportation for an entire platoon of Rangers, if she so desired. "It's really valuable if you find yourself in Hoenn's wilds often," she tried to sell Alba on the idea. "Maybe when they grow up and evolve, they will be! It's pretty rare for there to be a Pokémon big and strong enough without being fully evolved." There were, of course, exceptions. Dragonair was a noteworthy one that Shalin wanted to try. Once one or both of them were mounted up, Shalin and Letheia would lead the way across the invisible, soundless bridge. It could have been nerve wracking for the scientist, but not once would the bridge play any other trickery on them.

As Shalin touched the double doors, they would disappear in a flash of white light, revealing a grand entrance hall. Lining both sides of a red carpet adorned with a layer of dust were statues of people wearing robes and holding jeweled rods, as well as statues of Pokémon known for wielding paranormal powers. The entire chamber wavered back and forth in a trick of the light not dissimilar to a desert mirage. It truly looked something like out of a fantasy novel.

"The Mirage Palace is something else, isn't it?" Shalin asked Alba, taking a deep breath. "Any time you get uncomfortable and want to head back out, just let me know. I've already been here and done a full sweep of the place." She led the way up the grand hall's stairs in the back toward a double door. On the ground level, there was also a door radiating intense heat, but the explorer seemed to want nothing to do with it. Understandable, considering the girl was astride an Alolan Ninetales.

"Exactly!" Shalin chirped at Alba's suggestion. "Find a Pokémon that works well with you! It takes a lot of trust between you and your Pokémon, but when it's there, it is so rewarding." Even a Rapidash, a Pokémon native to the area, was a great Pokémon for it. Shalin, of course, preferred Pokémon that were a little exotic. Rapidash were the most common Pokémon mounts for a reason: they were easy to tame, had great stamina, and could put on the afterburners if need be.

"A glimpse into Hoenn's ancient past unlike anything you've ever imagined," Shalin answered Alba's question as she touched the handle on one of the larger-than-life doors. It vanished, revealing a derelict dining hall, tattered curtains with a Ninetales motif decorating the walls. It looked much like a medieval castle's dining hall. "When I retrieved the Mirage Medallion from here months ago, I had to solve a mystery involving the spirits of the barons who lived here ages ago. Since then, they've all passed onto the afterlife. There are still Pokémon who live here, though. Keep your eyes peeled for them, and try not to provoke them."

While Alba was free to make observations and take in the sight of the once-exquisite chamber, Shalin guided her Ninetales to the hall's north side, to what appeared to be a large fireplace. She reined her Pokémon toward it, the front half of their bodies disappearing into it! "And this is part of the reason why it's called the Mirage Palace. Not everything here is as it appears to be. If you have something made of LAPRASITE, it can see through the illusions here. It's pretty rare, though. Thankfully I have most of the important fakes memorized, so they won't stop us."

"Nobles of a world long past," Shalin answered, "and ones with power unlike anything most in Hoenn have seen." There were clues to their past strewn throughout the Mirage Palace, some of which Shalin had to pay close attention to in order to retrieve the Medallion of Eight from beyond the burning courtyard deeper in. While the powers they had were not on the level of Avatars, instead being closer to a fully mastered Sygna Suit, they were still magic-like, if anything the Zoroark pair she fought here long ago had indicated.

"That was what my old Ranger teacher used to help me through this place way back when." She missed Julia Davis . The humble cadet was the sweetest soul. She wondered how the Ranger was doing, never being able to catch an assignment with her. What surprise she would have to find out Shalin was advancing quickly among the Rangers' ranks!

As Alba's hand traced the table, she would find that her hand would pass through parts of its edges. When she passed her hands over the curtains on the walls, she wouldn't feel them at all. Perhaps the remnants of the barons' power fueled the palace's illusions, especially in the dining hall. "This whole place was geothermally powered. Still is. And that's not even the craziest part of the palace. If you want to, just wait until we go upstairs. And bundle up." Bundle up? It was hot inside!