The tinny sound of Skarmory blades compressing air was one that was difficult to silence. It was one she'd recognize anywhere the day Josh Devlin had gotten her sick taking her on a very similar nosedive. As much warning as she had to take evasive maneuvers, the Skarmory was just too fast to fully dodge. A burst of buzzing from her wings would cause the STEEL WING to cut into her thick, armored carapace near the base of her rear sting.

After the attack, Shalin could only feel the thump of her wasp mount's muscles as she tried to shrug the strong blow off. She couldn't hear Troy's fake apology, either; all she could hear was the furious buzzing of Beedrill wings trying to rattle the steel-type from the inside out. The TAILWIND produced by them would be a headwind for the metal bird, trying to open some distance between the two for her trainer to perform a mounted quick-switch.

That was no Skarmory. That was a Corviknight - something far worse. Their immense strength and hardened metal bodies left the Beedrill's vibrating wings ineffective in shaking the steel-type foe from the inside out. Thankfully for her, the TAILWIND did grant her enough of a window to withdraw her giant insect, clicking a second Poké Ball's released switch and landing in the saddle of her Charizard, Corona.

The once-vicious fire-type had been reduced to a cinder-covered shell of his former self after the Ranger had harvested her stem cells to synthesize Lathiel. It would haunt them both for the rest of their lives, the Charizard's body rejecting all forms of Infinity Energy. He could never Mega Evolve, use a Z-Move, or Terastallize for as long as he lived, his life permanently altered thanks to the heinous operation.

Reduced to a single fire attack, the dragon soared high with a single flap of his powerful wings. His jaws open wide, a fiery INFERNO rained down upon Troy and his Corviknight, though its unwieldiness would make it easier to evade than most attacks.

Corona and Shalin both fell for the taunt, green eyes turning red with anger. Stowing her AVIAN BOW, the animal-like Shalin dug her heels and nails into her dragon steed. The Charizard roared and violently swerved, the girl's adrenaline-heightened strength the only thing keeping her seated on her Pokémon.

Enraged! (Defense weakened drastically)

Completely out of control, Corona hurled herself toward the Corviknight, his DRAGON CLAWS glinting in the light. Neither one of them cared what part of Troy or his Corviknight struck; if it landed anywhere, it was likely to sting badly. Their berserk state was double-edged, though; it left them completely undefended. If the steel-type was agile enough to about-face, it could easily nail them from behind with almost any follow-up attack.

Blood sprayed from Corona's wing joints as the STEEL WING cut into the Charizard, his internal heat doing little to cauterize his wounds. If Shalin had her common sense about her, she would have retreated and come charging in on another bug Pokémon. In her berserk state, though, she could do nothing but go all out.

Unbeknownst to Troy, "pathetic Charizard" was not far off; the dragon had suffered from a serious medical side effect when he had his stem cells extracted to help create Lathiel, Shalin's Type: Null. The vile medicine caused an unhealthy, undesirable mutation in him, leaving him unable to harness the Infinity Energy needed for Mega Evolution or Z-Power. That served as the primary source of fuel for Corona's anger, Shalin violently kicking at her mount's sides to force out every bit of speed the poor creature had.

Whirling around and whipping his tail about, he created another INFERNO around himself, this time augmented by the heat of the BLAZING flame at the tail's end. Even so, the attack was still unwieldy. If the Corviknight was caught inside the burning cloud, though, it would sting.

A Gliscor dove in front of Corona's Inferno, the poisonous ground-type an obvious sacrificial Mareep to buy the Corviknight more time. It was clear to Shalin now that the giant metal bird was the Rocket's main offensive weapon, and it was one she had to disable as soon as she could. That Gliscor was too fast to maneuver around without her giant bugs, and Queen Zing simply could not pierce the avian's metal armor with her sting.

Embracing his anger rather than fight it, the Charizard, no longer berserk, tilted his wings at an angle for maximum forward thrust, his acceleration yanking Shalin back in her cocoon. Corona wound up before pitching his DRAGON CLAW toward the wounded Gliscor, aiming to slap it out of the sky so he could once again take a shot at making barbecue out of the Corviknight.

The STEEL WING was more devastating than anything Shalin could have ever imagined. At the perfect speed and the perfect angle, the Corviknight's giant blades sliced through the base of the creature's left wing joint. The flight appendage separated from the orange dragon with the horrific sound of snapping bone and flesh being torn. The Charizard spiraled to the ground in a head-first crash, wailing during his last moments. With a lack of altitude to even send out another Pokémon, the cocoon saddle she sat in saved Shalin's life as the corpse of her fire-type broke her own fall. Within seconds, the flame at the tip of Corona's tail disappeared, his entire head barely recognizable.

There was no time to mourn.

Furious that Troy MacQueen had murdered one of the Pokémon Shalin had hoped to rehabilitate after he had sacrificed so much to create Lathiel, her Type: Null, she was done holding back. Shakily unzipping her former fire-type's cocoon, Shalin sent out her Flygon and hopped on.

Not in her saddle, no. Right on the wing.

Irate with RAGE from her loyal Charizard's death, the white light of a NORMAL ZONE radiated from her suit and her Flygon's SYNC STONE, Sandy's wing hummed, then shrieked, vibrating far faster than anything her other Pokémon were capable of. A BOOMBURST exploded from her wingtips as they crashed through the sound barrier, the layers of sonic booms powered by her suit creating the nastiest shockwave any of her team could muster. She had learned from the Galar Memory that riding her Flygon's wing mid-Boomburst put a lot of stress on her body, even while wearing her suit. She had to save it for special occasions.

This was one such special occasion.