At last, illeana reyes had tasked Shalin with exploring the rift beneath Littleroot. She had been to a vast desert. She had been to a strange, seabed-like environment before. She could not wait to see what was behind the rift! Seated on Queen Zing, her Shiny Beedrill, she squeezed her mount's sides, the behemoth wasp's wings roaring as the two took off. The two bobbed through the rift, her smile growing as the world around her faded from white to...

...a realm devoid of true life, only covered in sentient machines.

Even in her SYGNA SUIT, Shalin looked uncomfortable. Her normally cheerful demeanor was nowhere to be found as gears turned, pylons glowed, and the grind of machinery filled the otherwise silent air. She pulled on Queen Zing's reins to turn the giant, green bee around, but she would not listen. She gently hummed her wings. "I'm not sure it'll help, but I'll try..."

Aligning herself with it, Shalin slid down the giant, stinging insect's translucent wing, the strong Pokémon tilting it up to keep her from falling off completely. The Beedrill stretched her wings before they started humming at the lowest speed and most narrow arc she could muster, which had to look like the most intense massage to Sylvia Cousteau and Elise Calcifet . The vibration got faster and faster, Shalin letting out a more typical scream of joy as the unimaginable adrenaline rush crowded out all feelings of dread.

"Whoa, this place is kickin'!" SYlvia said, the woman throwing her arms wide open as she gazed out at the landscape of metal and iron before her. Her eyes darted to every nook and cranny, eager to find some kind of insect or bug of some kind. The other two women with her were obvious first timers, alongside her of course. But it didn't really matter much to Sylvia. She was just happy to be here and roaming around. "Do you think they have bugs in Ultra Space?" she asked Shalin. She looked kind of like somebody who knew their way around Pokemon, especially ones that weren't in her immediate interest. Spekaiing of which, her eyes locked onto the other woman as she narrowed her eyes.

"Hey...Aren't you that one girl in the royal family...Califeet, right?" Sylvia asked, rubbing her chin, but would then shrug to herself. "Anyway, we should stick together since we're in a location without any knowledge of what to do. Our minds must remain focused, our will unbreakable, and all that other stuff Boss always- Hey, lookit that!" Her hand pointed at a broken clock towards that was a over the hill nearby. One that was derelict and had obviously seen far better days. One hand was missing, that being the hour hand, and holes across its faces showed a lack of care supplied to it for quite some time.

"I bet there's something cool in there. Abandoned locations in dangerous places is always a surefire sign that you're on the right spot. Let's go!" Before they could stop here, Sylvia ran off to go further investigate the clock tower.

PROMPTS:
- 05 investigate a broken clock tower and discover that they are missing parts.

Elise Calcifet
Shalin Nariya
(Sorry Eva...)

The wildly fast wings ceased vibrating, revealing a dizzy but grining Shalin. She remained seated on the Shiny Beedrill's wing for another minute or two before sliding completely off it, nearly twisting her ankle upon touching solid ground. "Oh, Elise Calcifet ! It's been ages," she greeted the royal. "I finally got my suit, Elise, and it's amazing! Did you see how fast I was going?" she bragged, uncertain if she was even paying attention.

She turned toward Sylvia Cousteau next. "Right, I don't think we've met. Name's Shalin, one of Hoenn's greatest explorers and the wildest Pokémon rider in the region!" She got back on her Beedrill and put her earplugs back in, this time sitting in the saddle like a normal person would... though it was far from normal to ride a Beedrill to begin with. Just how crazy was this woman...?

"I'll take a closer look!" she called out, hoping they would be able to hear her. She definitely wouldn't be able to hear them; all she could hear was the droning of her wasp steed's wings, even with her earplugs in. That investigation would be short-lived, a cloud of scalding steam enveloping her. The Volcanion husks, of a Pokémon Shalin recognized due to her trip through the Mirage Palace, were the source of the steam, the cloud getting hotter and thicker. It became suffocating after a while, forcing her to turn around. "Unless you have a way to deal with... those... we're gonna have to look elsewhere," the bug specialist reported, making sure only to do so after her mount's wings were silent. As much fun as it was riding a flying bug, it sure had its inconveniences!

Sylvia looked over to Shalin as the woman would introduce herself as one of the world's greatest explorers. The ginger looked at the woman with an elated glory. She beamed widely, clapping both hands together. "Wow, a world explorer! I'm a bit of an explorer myself!" She smiled, giggling to herself as she had been smitten with her gigantic Beedrill. She bounced all around, observing the bug type from every angle. "And you have a Beedrill! Look at how big you are! You're super well fed!" In a blur, she was on the ground, finger tracing along the Beedrill's drill appendages without a care in the world. "And these things are super sharp! The stinger is kinda small though, but I'd imagine that's because they're always flying more so than battling." Sylvia diagnosed Shalin's partner before then taking a bow herself. "I'm Sylvia. Resident bug expert, revolutionary and aspiring main villain! But that would depend on who you ask~ It's nice to meet you both! And okay, Elise! You'll be just some old rando I know then!" She might have not understood why any royal would want to really not be treated like a princess, but to each their own.

Once arriving at the clock, Sylvia began to look around, finding it rather odd that everything was all broken like this. "Kinda looks like a tornado or something came through here or something." She said, looking for an entrance of some kind. Lucky for her, there came to be two massive steel doors standing before the woman as she would staring paroozing around in search of something or other.

PROMPTS:
-

Elise Calcifet
Shalin Nariya

Shalin tried to use the conversation with Elise Calcifet , and especially Sylvia Cousteau , as a distraction from the unsettling, wholly artificial environment she found herself in. As much as she tolerated, even enjoyed, exploring some of the other environments (Ultra Desert, here's looking at you), this one made her visibly uncomfortable. "If the ability to ride like this wasn't tied to the suit, I'm sure you'd love to try, too," she replied to the royal's remark. "As much as I'd love to catch up here, now's not the time. Not for my sake, but for yours. Without a Sygna Suit, the very air here can be hard to breathe."

As the three headed toward the metallic castle, Sylvia introduced herself, and it seemed the two had a lot in common already. In response to the affection, the Beedrill spread her foreleg stings wide, offering a big hug to her if she wanted it. It might have been truly fascinating to see such a huge and rare Beedrill be so nice, given the species was known for its extreme aggression. "A bug expert?" Shalin asked. "While I'm not a bug expert, I like quite a few bug Pokémon! If there's a bug Pokémon big enough to ride on, I probably have one! I should show them to you when we leave this... this awful place. But for now, we have work to do."

Withdrawing the enormous bee so that the sound of her drone wouldn't reverberate over the empty castle, she switched ride Pokémon to a Kommo-o, who was quick to get a rise out of her trainer by raising his vibrating fists above his head. The feedback sounded like clashing cymbals, Shalin letting out a cry that sounded like she was thrilled. She also let Lathiel, her Type: Null, out of her Poké Ball in case there were stray Ultra Beasts present. So far, though, there were no signs of true life in the castle. "I think we should look for a bedroom or spare room to set up camp. It would keep us from having to backtrack all the way to the rift when we need to rest up."

Once the two had found a place they could rest at, Shalin slid off Treble's back, taking a short power nap to recovery from the rush her Kommo-o had given her. Once she woke up, she noticed @sylviacosteau was missing. "Hey, Elise, have you seen Sylvia anywhere? She up and left. I hope she's alright."

Hopping back onto her Kommo-o, Shalin and the vibrating dragon performed a quick search for her within the castle, but she was nowhere to be found in areas they had already been to. Unless she had a Pokémon adept at clearing heavy debris, the only place she could have gone is outside. "No luck," she said, returning to Elise. "We'll have to assume she went back to the rift. How are you holding up? I know when I came here before I got my suit, the atmosphere here would make me sick."

Regardless, Shalin would rein Treble toward a corner, light filtering in from behind a pile of rubble. "All yours, buddy!" Shalin shut her eyes, gripped her Pokémon tightly, and prepared to be rocked with the dragon's full power, which would no doubt be needed with the metallic construction that had fallen. Treble raised his fists above his head, then started vibrating every scale on his body.

Sending out her Sygna Flygon as a precaution, Shalin was glad she did. She and her synced partner glowed a faint green as the rattling and rumbling grew more intense. Her eyes seemed glued shut, her wide-open mouth a blur as she let out s delirious scream, her mount's fists vibrating at the highest frequency he could muster. The jaw-dropping feat ground even the metallic debris to pieces, one of the pieces shattering and sending shrapnel ricocheting off the wall like bullets discharged from a high-caliber firearm. Lathiel howled as several pieces of metal bounced off her mask, more sparks flying from it upon impact.

Shalin heart sunk whne heard that Elise didn't know where Sylvia was at either - in alien territory, the weight of uncertainty was greatly magnified. "If you're not feeling well, Princess, you should head back. I'll take a look for her," she replied, frowning. And when Shalin was frowning, it was serious. She was the expedition leader, meaning if Sylvia were to succumb to the elements, she would be held responsible.

To expedite her search, Shalin swapped Pokémon to her Flygon, taking a seat on her synced Pokémon's back. Her wings hummed, the hair beneath her rider's Sygna Suit standing on end as their vibration coursed through her. She glanced back at Lathiel, who was holding the entrance down while the green duo performed their search.

Sylvia Cousteau was nowhere to be found.

With a sense of dread crawling up her legs, the Ranger swooped down to recall the Type: Null, the shrill drone of BUG BUZZING wings propelling them in Elise's general direction at great speeds. All Shalin could do was hope their unknowing spy had made it out slive.