Sliding off Artea's back and onto the snowy sands north of Moddseep, Shalin withdrew her Dewgong and switched ride Pokémon to Letheia, her Alolan Ninetales. A giant among her species, the fairy fox was taller than Shalin herself was. With a firm pat above her rear, the ice-type was off, cantering into the misty cave that was once her home. The hole she had once fallen in had been iced over, a new sign nearby warning spelunkers of thin ice.

A shriek caught the girl's attention, reining the fox toward its source. A wild Zubat was pestering robin coello , trying to siphon a meal of blood from her. Not standing for it at all, a quick ICE BEAM to one side was enough to chase the nocturnal flying-type away. "Are you okay, Robin?" she asked. "What are you doing out here? This place is dangerous!"

Shalin frowned upon hearing Robin's reason for coming to Shoal Cave. While it was possibly the only place in Hoenn where Ice Stone naturally formed, getting down there would be dangerous. "The only place I recall seeing Ice Stone here is on the prison level, far beneath. Come, let me show you."

The explorer's Alolan Ninetales eyed the Vulpix and chatted with the smaller Pokémon about this place once being her home. She reined the ice-type toward a large, frozen waterfall that Shalin and Robin could see through. On the other side of it was a wonder of a Hoenn long since past: a buried ice castle. "It's at the bottom of the Crystal Trench. Getting there won't be easy, and you better be ready to fight Froslass. There's a lot of them down there." Robin's Dragapult would be able to handle things nicely, as long as they weren't ambushed.

"It's about four levels down from the ground level - the level we're currently on. Think you can handle it?" she asked, only proceeding to the first underground level if she got confirmation.

Shalin cautioned that there were a couple of dangers lurking deep within the depths of the cave. Laurence Anderson 's Glastrier roamed all but the uppermost levels, and his Articuno was at the very bottom level, though they stayed in a specific spot they would have ample warning on. While the Captain could not name the Galarian or Kantonian species, her descriptions of them were clear enough that if Robin knew of the two, she would know they were not to be messed with.

"It's not that deep. A few hundred feet at most," the green rider reassured Robin as she led the way past their viewpoint and down the first ice tunnel. It was a gradual descent, lengthy rather than deep. Toward the end, the natural rock gave way to ice-laden mortars. Before they could get too far in, though, a pair of Beartic growled at them. A much steeper ice slide was right in front of the duo if they needed a sudden escape route, but if they wanted to explore anywhere else, the wilds were making them fight for it!

The battle escalated quickly, one of the wilds slicing toward Robin's two Pokémon. The second looked to double-team the nervous explorer, too, were it not for Captain Nariya's quick intervention. She hurled Lathiel's Poké Ball between Robin and the ice-types just in time: the DRAGON RUSH unsteadied Letheia's footing, causing Shalin to lurch and nearly fall off her giant fox.

One of the two white Pokémon turned tail, leaving the other to defend its territory against the invading Type: Null. SLASH met CRUSH CLAW in a flurry of blows that sounded like clashing swords, the blood of both Pokémon spraying from their paws as the brawl quickly grew intense. A TRI ATTACK to the face knocked the Beartic silly.

Once the battle was over and the mist cleared, Shalin breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed Robin was okay. "Down that slide is the way forward, but there's a real wonder of Hoenn down here if you're willing to take a slight detour," she offered, gesturing toward the ice slabs that had sank into the floor during the confusion of the battle. Beyond them looked like the top of a frozen guard tower of some sort.

The scene before robin coello was indeed awe-inspiring. As the two headed westward, the walls of the ice cave transitioned to icy mortars. In the northwest corner was a balcony whose entrance had long since been frozen by a wall of ice several feet thick. Water Pokémon with a tolerance for cold, such as Seel, could be seen frolicking underwater on the outside. It was like looking through the window of an aquarium.

In the southwest corner was a frozen desk. While its contents had long since been picked clean, there appeared to be a map of some kind beneath the ice. "This is a map of the ice castle as it once was," Shalin explained, remembering her adventures with Altagracia Contreras where she first explored the dangerous cave and castle.

Lastly, Shalin directed Robin's attention to a tapestry on the east wall, depicting an icy equine that looked like it possessed great power. "This is a Glastrier," Shalin identified the rare Pokémon, having met the one Josh Devlin raised. "There's at least one on the lower levels. They're really dangerous. Even I would be really careful if I tried to ride one." The High King's horse seemed to have a mind and personality of their own. Little did she know that the Glastrier roaming the cave's lower levels belonged to Laurence Anderson , the Composed...

"And that's the joy of unearthing Hoenn's secrets," Shalin nodded in reply as she, too, stared at the tapestry. The ice-type looked so majestic, yet so powerful. Those icy legs looked like they had some real kicking power behind them. A Pokémon made of pure ice would likely require special gear to ride on at all.

As Shalin led the way back to the more natural part of the cave's first underground level, Robin asked about her other adventures. "Oh, that's such a long story. It might be better saved for another day. What say you we find a day to meet up at my Romping Grounds in Petalburg Woods? It's my home. I don't remember if I told you, but I live off-grid." With the number of Pokémon she had and her survival skills, she could sustain herself quite well, only having to go to town for special occasions. And her job as Captain.

Regardless of future arrangements, Shalin would gesture toward a giant ice slide behind the way they reached the first basement. "This slide is the only way deeper in. We won't be able to come back this way. There's another way back, but it's a bit roundabout. I want to be sure you've got the energy to keep going before we commit."

The duo flew down the slide's twists and turns, its low friction causing them to rapidly gain speed. A whoop from Shalin echoed around its confines as ice sprayed around Letheia claws from making turns. The slide deposited the two on the cave's third basement level, a ruined ice arena illuminated only by eight blue, ghostly flames. It was one eerie sight.

"Keep your eyes peeled for Froslass, Robin," Shalin warned as she investigated the ruins alongside the less experienced Ranger. "That's the same reaction I had when I first came here, to the Crystal Trench." Letheia let out a cry, startling Shalin with a fierce bucking motion that kept the girl's reflexes sharp. "This was where Letheia and I first met. I think she's just excited to be back here. It's been a while."

While they weren't that large, there were ICE STONES embedded beyond the ruined walls, inside what appeared to be more natural, ice cave-like alcoves. Seeing Robin might need a hand extracting them, the Captain clicked the switch on another Poké Ball. "Tinder, think you can give Robin a hand getting some Ice Stones?" Shalin asked the saddled Shiny Flareon just a bit shorter than she was, whose tail was ready to point a FIRE SPIN wherever his trainer ordered.