After her Sygna Suit saved both her life and that of her Flygon once more, attributing her ability to walk away from fern delaney and his Tapo Koko, Shalin was stuck in the League infirmary, much of her body covered in stinging burns. With little else to do, nothing on television catching her interest at such a late hour, she searched for friends' routes on the Rondez-View app. Aubre's route was the first that populated. While they had only met once, the trail ride with her Farigiraf remained enough of a memory that she recognized the name.

Wait, a villain route? Lovely.

Did this route really want her to play the bad guy? As she read on, it was clear the narration was trying to goad her into doing terrible, terrible things to poor Aubre. Cheating on a love interest, too? This was one reason she was single and looking. Romance was far too nuanced for her tastes. She clicked the top option once and almost confirmed it, but could not bear to read what would have come. She needed a happy story to cheer her up. She scrolled down and selected the final option: the one most likely to leave her with a happy ending.

❤️ Forgive her. She's your friend.

ERROR? Shalin grumbled. This was not what she needed. She wanted to read happy stories, not ones where she was no better than Rocket. Her instinct was to try to nonviolently resolve the matter by simply asking her indoors. She doubted that would get her very far. It could land her in the realm of the Game Overed, which was equally unfun.

Sending a Pokémon after Aubre wasn't guaranteed to be violent, was it? Plus, with how advanced the AI was, it might be able to recognize that Queen Zing was a sweetheart, unlike most Beedrill. It wasn't that contrived, either; Macro Cosmos had used her private PC data to reference Olivia, her Buzzwole, from what she got to play of her own route. She mentally crossed her fingers and made her decision, the flatlining of a distant medical monitor distracting her.

Had another Leaguer perished in the war?

❤️ Send a Pokemon after her (Shiny Beedrill)

The names being blanked out made Shalin uneasy, raising her blood pressure and pulse a few points. While it was of no concern now, if it went up any more, it might attract the attention of her caretakers. This was supposed to be an unassuming route, yet the story had taken an uncomfortable direction for her. The excitement was the only thing keeping her from falling back asleep.

Shalin wanted to resolve this peacefully. No bloodshed. She could not stand needless bloodshed. All she wanted to do was go back to Petalburg Woods and frolic with her Pokémon, duties as Rustboro Captain be damned. She needed some time away from the war. Time to herself. As violent as it sounded, time to bond with Saria by letting the Venusaur fling and flick her about.

She wanted to, but she couldn't. Not with a significant portion of her elbow missing.

❤️ Try to convince her to come back to the apartment