It wasn't hard to find Shalin's base of operations. All you had to do was follow the sounds of cracking.

That, and the Pokémon that only the deranged would consider riding. The deranged, or Shalin Nariya. Howard was still debating putting the ruin hunter and rider in separate categories, but she had given Howard a lot of help in exploring near Fortree. He respected any savant in any field, and Shalin was, among many things, a savant.

And maybe a little deranged, but so were half of the people Howard knew.

"Shalin!" Howard's voice echoed through the trees, before finally appearing in the clearing that made up Shalin's domain. He was followed by a Shiny Golurk, standing tall amidst the ancient oaks that made up Petalburg Woods. Its feet sunk slightly into the ground due to its weight. "Long time no see! I gotta say, this place is not easy to find."

---

Shalin Nariya

One of the first things that Howard would likely see after arriving at the plateau was Shalin in her Flygon Sygna Suit, the source of the buzzing the insectile dragon. Both her and her ground-type Pokémon glowed a faint green, a manifestation of the INFINITY ENERGY flowing between the suit and the Pokémon's SYNC STONE. What was perhaps even more unusual was she was somehow sitting on one of her Yanmega's giant wings. All four limbs grasped the translucent appendage, yet it did not break under her weight. While it did move, it did so far less than one would expect.

"It has been a while, hasn't it?" Shalin asked Howard. "I'm amazed your recognized me in my change of clothes; most people don't." She waved to the Shiny Golurk in greeting, as did Sandy the Flygon. "That's on purpose; it's part of living off-grid, and with some of the--" Her explanation was interrupted with blissful laughter as the wing beneath her fluttered in a warm-up not fast enough to make noise, but fast enough to turn her into a blur of greens.

"Losing an eye only kills my depth perception, not my sight. Unless there's a bunch of other people living in the forest that also keep a menagerie, you're the only one that comes to mind." Howard put a hand on his hip as he inspected the Sygna Suit. "Splendid make. These suits are magnificent. Simply magnificent! "

Perhaps that was how she was sitting on her Yanmega's wings without bending them. What a curious armament. Team Rocket's strongest members had these types of suits, as well. Howard himself could only make do with Mega Evolution. Thinking about the concept made his missing eye itch.

"Guh... it's like those ruins all over again." Howard smiled, before turning to his Golurk. The Golurk raised a mechanized hand and did a slow wave. The lights on its body pulsed. Howard's eye narrowed, then softened.

"Atlas says hello." Howard turned back to her. "Ever ridden a Golurk? Isn't this one a magnificent specimen?"

---

Shalin Nariya

Howard seemed fascinated by Shalin's Sygna Suit. It not only made her look like a Flygon-human hybrid, but in a way, she was one, her and her Pokémon sharing the same life force. The two shared physical and emotional feelings with one another, whether it be pain or gain.

It took her a few seconds to respond after Flit was done warming up his wings, the rider a little dizzy. While the suit prevented Shalin from receiving lethal whiplash from riding on the buzzing wing, it did nothing to prevent the disorientation she experienced. Now that it was still, Howard could get a good look at her on her highly unusual ride. "It is," Shalin admitted, though she had little interest in the species. "Never done so myself. I prefer Pokémon I can get a good hold on with all four limbs, if you get my drift." She loved ones where she could feel every running stroke. It was why she had no interest in a Metagross; they were capable of high speeds and sudden turns, yes, but it just didn't have the right feel to it.

Picky girl.

"If you brought earplugs like I said, now would be a good time to put them in," Shalin reminded Howard. "Once Flit's wings start buzzing for real, I won't be able to hear you." She said no more, a look of pure focus on her face as she grabbed onto the wing with both her hands, near the base of its red tip. With a deafening buzz, Shalin disappeared into a sea of shades of green again, her own body shaking with the wing adding to the drone's volume.

Watching the feat under a high speed camera would have to be mesmerizing.

"Golurk has four limbs." Howard waggled a finger, though he seemed to understand her meaning. His most recent riding choices were his Golurk and Stakataka. Thanks to Magnet Rise, Howard could float the Ultra Beast around, and it also served as a house in trying times.

The story behind it included a lot of screaming, crying, and a particularly nasty use of Magnet Pull.

Earplugs. Right! Shalin had mentioned that he would need those. Howard patted around in his pockets, before pulling a pair out. He hadn't used them in ages, since he had forgone public transit for the most part. As his team had improved, his need for a bus pass lessened.

As Shalin began flitting once again, Howard pulled out his phone and changed the settings on the camera. He then took several photos of the event while sitting on his Golurk's foot. Atlas began to do to the sign of the horns, often used in Spikemuth rock concerts. After Shred Zeppelin accidentally introduced Howard's Golurk to the process, it used the hand motion to express enjoyment.

---

Shalin Nariya

Most of the pictures Howard took would be too blurry to see much, but one would be clear enough to observe some details. He would see Shalin bearing the widest smile he had ever seen from her, her white-knuckled hands grabbing near the base of the Yanmega's red wingtip and her hair stretching almost straight up from the wing flicking her toward the ground at great speed.

There were many physics-breaking questions that only the study of her Sygna Suit could answer. How was she not passing out from the extreme whiplash that came from sitting on a wing flapping too fast to see? How was the translucent wing holding itself together? Where was the extra strength needed to flutter with the extra weight coming from? They were all questions knowledge of the natural world could not answer.

The wild ride continued for a few more seconds, after which the wings gradually slowed to a stop. In the deafening silence that followed was Shalin's return to visibility, catching her breath and regaining her senses. While the suit seemed to protect her from the physical harm that came with sitting on something moving that fast, it did not protect her from the disorientation that came with being thrown up and down countless times per second!

"Spectacular! You were one with the wind! Just like at Fortree!" Howard clapped energetically. "You could've done all the work there yourself with this suit of yours."

Howard was not a physicist. He wasn't particularly knowledgeable about physics beyond what was required to perform his job as an archaeologist, historian, and geologist. Team Rocket didn't require him to understand anything more. They didn't hire him to do anything more. That was his direct superior's job.

Wouldn't he want him to figure out more?

"How does this suit work?" Howard shouted over the flapping of the wings, holding onto his hat as the flapping wings threatened to blow it way. "I know the basics and everything, but mechanically? Maybe it's similar to something I've seen in my research..."

Howard scratched his chin thoughtfully. "It'd be interesting if there was a connection, y'know?"

---

Shalin Nariya

The show of enthusiasm made Shalin's smile grow. Howard wasn't wrong, either; her suit was something special. While its powers were niche, they fit what she did well. She enjoyed it, too; she loved every bit of what it let her do. It let her experience thrills perhaps no one else on the planet could.

Shalin was too busy answering questions to notice the shadowy wisps forming over Flit's compound eyes and floating down from the bottoms of his wings. "It's like you and your Pokémon's spirits both merge... in a way. It's not Flit that I'm merged with; it's Sandy," she pointed toward the Flygon unsteadily. "She has to be able to withstand her own vibration to use her wings like she does, so it makes me really good at it, too. I don't understand a lot of the details - only what I can and can't do in it." Her eyes widened when Howard mentioned he had perhaps already been studying the technology.

Before she could elaborate, a cloud of shadowy wisps flew outward from Flit, the Pokémon's exoskeleton a darker green, every shade of red on his body now a shade of purple. With a snap of his mandibles and a hiss-like cry, the Yanmega stretched his wings and took Shalin for a second run on the vibration.

This run, though, wasn't with a mere BUG BUZZ. Empowered by his new aggression from being a Shadow Pokémon, the pitch of the buzzing was much lower but louder than it was before. The blur that was Flit's wing arc was much wider than it was before, whipping up a SHADOW STORM. Her heart thumped not out of thrill, but fear. If Sandy's wings were the apex of vibration frequency, Flit's wings in his Shadow state were at the apex of power. Completely disrespecting Shalin's limits, the angry insect's wings churned faster and harder, doing everything he could to send Shalin flying.

Even Sandy was squinting, both her and her trainer glowing a bright green as the limit of her suit's power approached.

So there was a limit? Interesting. Howard made a silent note of that. He'd have to ask around and see what affected it. Bond strength, Pokémon choice, activities... So many factors, and so many ways to test them. It was daunting, being faced with a question like that.

This was why he didn't become an engineer.

While the Shadow Storm raged, Howard peeked out from behind Atlas. The Golurk stood tall and proud, obscenely heavy. Its feet sank into the ground slightly, which was good. The winds were strong, and Howard didn't feel like shouting 'Timber!' if the automaton fell.

Shadow Pokemon were strange. Howard knew that Tempest Quinn and Cillian Quinn had the menagerie in their house, when Howard had visited. The visit, while fun, had ended in screaming, Roto-TV subscriptions, several bites from Shadow Pokémon, and a 22000 PD hole in Howard's bank account that he had silently pawned off to Amor Rose. Hopefully the Head Scientist didn't mind.

A bead of sweat rolled down his neck as he imagined Amor's wrath upon getting the bill.

"Shalin, I have a question for..." Howard stopped as the Sygna Suit continued to glow. This storm was growing more and more outrageous, and he was worried that Shalin might fly off into the stratosphere. Howard whistled, and Atlas looked at him. He pointed, and Golurk approached Shalin steadily, as if approaching a wild animal.

---

Shalin Nariya

Shalin wanted to scream, What's gotten into you, Flit?!, but could not. She could barely move a muscle as the SHADOW STORM's vibration peaked in power, every Pokémon on the Romping Grounds approaching their trainer to make sure she was okay. A sound akin to shattering glass pierced the air around them as Sandy let out a shrill, vocal cry, their Sygna bond stretched to the point of fully overheating. The flow of Infinity Energy between them rapidly cooled. With that vital conduit interrupted, it only took a few split-second vibrations for the Shadow Yanmega to dislodge Shalin, the girl's senses ravaged.

Flit sounding like the loudest vehicle engine in the world on full power, it took many of the wild rider's Pokémon to quell the negative emotions from the Yanmega's hardened heart. Flit and Treble wrestled with one another, the two trying to overwhelm each other with vibration. The Yanmega tore through the strength of not only the dragon-type, but several other of the girl's strong Pokémon before managing to withdraw the Shadow Pokémon.

"What... was that?" the exasperated Ranger asked Howard. "I've never seen anything like that before. Flit, all of a sudden... was... so violent!"

"Shadow Pokemon." Howard said grimly as he peeked out from behind his Golurk. Atlas hadn't needed to do anything to get Flit under control, thankfully. "I've seen them before, on my..." A flashback to getting mauled by Eevees appeared in his mind's eye. "Travels."

Sighing heavily, Howard reached for his pocket. He hadn't thought to bring any first-aid. He'd need to note that while visiting Shalin in the future. The Ranger was a magnet when it came to earning gravity's ire. Not like a kit would do much of anything. There was little you could do for someone taped to a fan.

Did it even matter when she had a Sygna Suit on?

"You should look into ways of controlling Flit." Howard said as he inspected Shalin's Sygna Suit for damage. "If she freaks out again, you could end up way worse. What if she had flung you into the sky, or worse?"

He knew that Cillian had a menagerie of Shadow Pokémon. He'd need to ask the Underboss (or his husband) for tips on controlling them.

"How did Flit end up like this? She seemed fine a few months ago." Howard frowned as he asked it. He had a Shadow Pokemon of his own, but he refused to use it. It was too much of a danger to him and his other Pokémon. "Dragonfly. Ironic." Howard mused to himself.

---

Shalin Nariya

A Shadow Pokémon? As in the Pokémon whose door to its heart had been artificially slammed shut? They sure were nasty. Even from within the Poké Ball, the wisps continued to leak out, Shalin occasionally able to feel vibration from within the Ball itself.

"You see, Howard, that's the thing! Flit had never acted like this before!" she protested. "Only since... I had this weird dream about the Halls of Origin beneath Sootopolis," she blurted out, unaware that Howard could easily use that knowledge against her. She was also unaware that dream was the triggering event for Flit's heart to suddenly become hard. "But why, though...?"

While there was a lot of wear and tear around both the impact point where Flit buzzed Shalin off, as well as around the area where Shalin sat on the wing, there was no critical damage to her suit. It seemed her suit's protection held up just enough to keep her safe. "I know nothing at all about Shadow Pokémon," she admitted, "other than what I just saw. I'm used to riding Flit's wing, but that was unlike anything I've ever felt before."

"They think Howards are very tasty, and that's enough for me." Howard said grimly, before shaking off the flashbacks of being mauled by Cillian's Eevee horde. "And they're, well, powerful. I had this weird dream about winning a million dollars, and then my Cradily became the same way."

He omitted to mention that his dream had ended with him collecting and preserving everything, not just artifacts. It was likely for the best that he forgot that dream.

Some things were best left to the annals of history

"I don't know, Shalin. This resurgence of Shadow Pokémon is worrisome. I'm sure someone will sort it out, but..." Howard shrugged, disconcerted. "I wouldn't ride Flit for a while, until you can purify her. The strength is nice and all..."

He sighed and looked up at the sky, tipping his hat slightly as he did. His Cradily had rampaged through his apartment before he had gotten it under control. The way Flo had looked at him had been terrifying. It was barely even a Pokémon anymore, but a machine bent on destruction.

Not a Pokémon, but an animal.

"...but is it worth it if they forget our faces?"

---

Shalin Nariya