Howard was right. The consequences of opening the Halls of Origin were far greater than she had imagined. "It was a Pandora's box I never should have opened. Now there is a place in Hoenn where Ultra Beast eggs will hatch readily. Hatching Toxrill and Olivia there was just not worth it, given that the Halls of Origin were beneath Sootopolis. Deep in enemy territory." Loose lips sink ships, Shalin. Her words could well start another Ultra Beast War... not with the Megalopolans. With Rocket.

"They should," Shalin nodded. "I'm going to have to take him to someone more familiar with them. Someone who knows how to soften the hearts of Pokémon like this. Because the Flit you saw is not the Flit I know."

Now that she was feeling better, it was time for the girl to take her suit's new features out for a test run. Each of Shalin's wildest-riding Pokémon waited in anticipation for her to pick them for the demonstration to Howard. Treble flourished his scales, turning into a stationary blur as a clangorous noise roared around the Romping Grounds. Ultimately, though, she pointed to Saria, a Venusaur that towered above her. Her giant flower matched new designs on her trainer's suit, ones that weren't there until recently. "I've been looking forward to this for a while!" she joyfully exclaimed as the gentle giant extended and lowered its massive vines to the ground.

Deep in enemy territory, huh?

That was accurate. Nobody within the Pokemon League would be able to take a step into Sootopolis. The city was a fortress, defended by the impact of a long forgotten meteor. Even if the Pokemon League entered it, they would have to fight for each agonizing inch of land and territory.

Sootopolis would never fall. Shalin Nariya would not see the box she opened ever again. Not because Howard would stop her, but because Rocket would stop the League from ever reclaiming that holy city. Much like the box from myth, that cave would never go sealed again.

"You know someone like that? Seriously?" Howard asked, surprised. "They can really soften the hearts of Shadow Pokémon?"

As Howard walked with Shalin, he contemplated that. It was an interesting thing, to be sure. While Howard pondered, Atlas walked over to Saria. The automaton held up a hand, as if gauging the Venusaur's height. Though it was expressionless, the Golurk seemed pleased at the Venusaur's height. It looked at Howard, who was deep in thought. It beeped at him.

"Whazzat?" He asked it, before looking at Saria and Shalin. "Please don't break your back, Shalin. Or legs. Or... anything."

---

Shalin Nariya

Howard's surprise was met by surprise of her own. Was this man was as naive as she once was? "I expect it to be a long process. It's more learning the nature of them and finding the road to purification. Because the Pokémon you saw... that's not the Flit I remember. As he is, he is too dangerous for me to use. If he can pierce a suit designed to withstand vibration... without it, his victims would be... they would become paste on the wall."

But enough of that. She was here to have fun and show Howard what a Sygna Suit was truly capable of. As if she were hopping onto the back of a Pokémon, Shalin plopped herself onto the thick pod at the end of Saria's vine. Once she felt her hands grasping ner the vine's tip, the Poémon started looping and whirling her vine about, Shalin squinting with the biggest grin on her face Howard had seen yet from her.

She was hooting and giggling loudly as the vine suddenly went from slack to taut, flicking her and giving her the sensation of being on a Pokémon that was trying to buck her off. A puff of pollen flew upward from Saria's flower, the grass-type shaking her body back and forth one time. A pulse raced down both her vines...

"Change takes a while, so keep at it. Time is on your side."

A white lie. Time was on nobody's side. Knowing Hoenn, they'd have a great disaster to deal with in several months. When that happened, would it really matter if one Shadow Pokémon was purified? Unlikely. Yet that wasn't the point. Hoenn was built on the stories of its people. If Shalin found something positive at the end of this road with Flit, Howard would be happy for her.

He watched her ride, and he simply put a hand on his hip and sat on Atlas's foot. He would not ruin this moment for her with pessimism. Therefore, he simply sat back and let her have fun.

And he slowly smiled.

Yes, his question for her could wait. He could ask about her experience with dragon lore some other time. Her experience could wait. Instead, he'd watch as she rode on her Venusaur and had the time of her life. He gave her a thumbs up.

---

Shalin Nariya

As the giant pulse shot toward the end of the vine, an alien sensation flooded Shalin: that of the vine thrusting her forward while the its shaking drew her backward. The wave was so powerful that she could see part of the vine extend beyond where its tip was. Her skin tingled in anticipation of the motion reaching the vine's edge where the brave, suited girl was perched.

CRACK!!

As the pulse reached the tip, a sonic boom blasting from the end of the vine Shalin was sitting on. The violent motion was so fast that by the time her eyes could visually update what she was seeing, its cutting edge had already traveled in a complete circle. In the split second that her hearing lapsed, she and her Flygon were glowing a brilliant green, the dragon sweating profusely and breathing quite heavily afterward after discharging the extreme spike of Infinity Energy preventing Shalin from being... well, whipped off her perch.

Were Shalin to perfect her bond with her Venusaur, she could turn the sensation that made her body burst with adrenaline into one of the deadliest weapons in her arsenal. For now, it was but a fun novelty that she could handle once, maybe twice before wearing her out. Rather than snap the vine again, Saria simply let it whirl the Captain about to slowly kill its immense momentum. When Shalin became visible, and not blindingly bright, she looked dizzier than anything Howard had ever seen. She was grinning deliriously.

Was this somehow fun for her? Such a ride should have rent her in two. Sygna Suits really were wondrous, weren't they?

Why were Sygna Suits only reserved for the pinnacle of trainers? Where were the Sygna Suits for construction workers, builders, and gardeners?

Wouldn't it be better to use tools like these for rebuilding Hoenn as well as wage war? Yet Howard only saw them used on the battlefield. It was something he had realized, once, while reading old books. Civilizations tended to use their best resources on one another, rather than use them to support the populace.

Where, then, would Howard put Shalin's use of a Sygna Suit? Was it a waste of potential, or was it a humane use of a rare resource?

Was it even up to him to decide?

"Thank you for the opportunity to see one of these in action. They're rarer than you think." Howard told her as he jogged towards her, hand on his hat. Atlas stood by motionlessly, watching the exchange. Shalin was not its lord, and therefore did not warrant protection. Unlike with Flit, there was little chance of Howard being wounded.

"Sygna Suits are a modern tool, and your Pokémon look glad that you use one alongside us. Splendid! This isn't something that you can see in a book! It must be witnessed in the field! Thanks for giving me a field study!" Howard beamed at her, before checking his watch. "But look at the time. I have to be at Rustboro University in a few hours."

He looked back at Shalin.

"Are you well? No concussions? No snapped spines?"

---

Shalin Nariya