The sound of Cass screaming would be followed by the sound of bug wings loudly buzzing. Were she to look toward the source of the noise, she would witness a terrifying sight: a queen Beedrill, quite large for her species, was flying toward her, though her foreleg stings were not outstretched. The speed she was flying at was, however, alarming. As the two got closer, Cass may have been able to see that a young girl in a yellow Ranger uniform was riding on the Beedrill's back!

The bug-type touched down near the tree Cass was stuck in and relaxed her wings. Shalin took the earplugs out of her ears and shouted toward the distressed-looking girl, "Hey there! Need a hand?" Behind her was a Type: Null that averted her eyes from the victim.

Cass usually wasn't the type to be too pessimistic - even if she has a bit of nihilistic streak to herself, she at least tried to see things at least a bit above depressing. However, her heart drops a good distance as she hears a not-very-comforting buzzing, followed by the sight of a. REALLY BIG Beedrill, and it seems to come her way. In a cartoon, Cass' soul could maybe have been caught leaving her body through her mouth, being a (literal) ghost of herself and leaving her physical shell likewise.

However, she snaps quickly back to the actual reality, reinforcing her grip on the tree branch so she doesn't fall after all, as the Beedrill calls out - no wait, it's not the Beedrill. It's a ranger, on the pokémon's back. Relieved, and now with belated embarrassment, she nods, "Yeah, I think that'd be... really good." Then, her eyes dart upwards to where her Trubbish is- oh dear. The Trubbish is frozen stiff, definitely still alive, but way less agile in its garbage bag body now that the cold has clung to him a bit more. "Hey, Jon, you holding up alright there?" she calls, worriedly, and gets ... something of a reassuring eye movement back?

Shalin Nariya

Both of them seemed to be stable where they were at - just stuck. Too high up in the tree, unable to let go and fall without being hurt. Queen Zing could only carry one person at a time, and hovering straight enough for Cass to land in her saddle without touching her wing would be difficult. Shalin withdrew the giant wasp, in her place sending out a Venusaur that was also quite large for its kind.

The giant grass-type tromped close to the tree, standing right underneath where Cass and Jon were stuck high up. "Remember, Saria, no whipping!" she reminded the Venusaur as she extended her two thick vines outward. They were so thick that Shalin sat on one of them like she would a Pokémon such as her Beedrill. She had to stay perched on the thick pod near the end of the vine rather than the cracker at the very end. Without her Sygna Suit on, the g-forces behind a swing of her Vine Whip would seriously hurt her, perhaps even tear her apart.

Shalin had her Venusaur lift her into the tree, the girl seeing if there was anything she could do. From how they were stuck, the only way out seemed to be down. "Saria here can help get you two down." The tall Venusaur lifted her second vine beneath Cass. "Hop on her vine! She'll help you, then your Trubbish!"

Cass hasn't met many Beedrill before, but the Venusaur ... that's not a normal size, huh? And coming to think of it, the Beedrill does appear almost normal-sized next to it, too ... She stares a bit obviously, taken aback by the unusual size of both pokémon. "Th-they're q-q-q-uite large, h-h-huh?" Cass says with chattering teeth, the cold getting to her now that she's spent half an eternity in this position - it feels like she truly starts becoming a tragically comical ice statue.

There's a hint of hesitation at the plan, but ... the vines definitely are more sturdy than a normal Venusaur's ones. And, their trainer is sitting there steadily, which is even more proof than the sheer look of them. "Ok-k-kay, here it-t-t-t goes ..." She peels herself with an agonising slowness, and lets out a quiet "Yeee!!" when she's falling for a moment, before the grass type could come assist her. Gladly, she does not hit the ground with any unpleasant feelings, and breathes out a sigh of relief.

"Th-th-thank-k-ks," she says to their saviour, before shaking herself once, twice, thrice to get some kind of feeling back to her body. She should really start thinking before starting to climb trees in the future. (If she would remember this is an entirely different question.)

Shalin Nariya

Once Cass was seated on the vine as comfortably as one could expect, Saria drew her and Shalin to the ground, trying to keep them within sight of each other to keep Cass from panicking too much. If she was sensitive to Infinity Energy, Cass might have been able to feel it radiating from the Venusaur and the trainer's Sygna Suit.

Provided she was able to slide off the Venusaur's vine successfully and onto her own two feet, the large Pokémon would return for her Trubbish. In the meantime, Lathiel had at last caught up, not making eye contact with Cass, though her very presence may have been unsettling. "Glad I could get you to safety. Captain Shalin Nariya of Rustboro," she introduced herself, "and she's Saria," she gestured to the Venusaur that was intimidatingly large but was clearly trying to be gentle. "I'm just glad I live close by enough to be able to hear your call for help. What brings you out here?" the inquisitive Captain asked.

Upon calming down more from the situation and actually taking in her environment, Cass notices that there may be ... particular things going on here. While she can't pinpoint it, it almost feels like a familiar afterthought, like something she has felt around her mom sometime in the faintest way. She shelves that thought for later, focusing on her Trubbish that's been gently saved by the large Venusaur. She only actually relaxes once her freezing garbage bag is back in her arms, and she lets out an audible sigh.

"Thank you very much, I am not sure what I would have done without you and Saria," she says, with a grateful smile, still shivering a bit, but couldn't help but add, "That's- that's not a normal size for a Venusaur, is it?" And she couldn't help but feel like the suit might be more than meets the eye. She also isn't exactly sure if she recognises the quadrupedal pokémon that approaches. Its approach is non-aggressive, so Cass doesn't worry about it - she's barely ever unsettled in the presence of any pokémon, and, as her beloved Jon proves, also immune to any stench.

"Yeah, about that ... I thought I maybe saw a Wormhole or something, but that ... wasn't the case." She knows there's probably more reliable ways to get into one, but she also is pretty sure her mom would kill her if she did, and if the Wormhole beasts didn't get to her first.

Shalin Nariya

Saria was enormous; from foot to flower, she was taller than a one-story building. Her size was part of the reason the extraordinary feats the Ranger could pull off were even possible. Was Cassandra Kubrick 's shivering because she was cold, or because she was afraid? Shalin may never know.

"You're welcome - again, I'm just glad I could be here to help!" she chirped. "She is! Large Pokémon have been more common since the Space-Time Distortions started showing up, but no one's been able to discern why." Space-Time Distortions were Yuina Higashi 's expertise; maybe she would approach her about them sometime.

The mentions of an Ultra Wormhole were alarming, and frankly, not too believable. If there were a new Ultra Wormhole in Hoenn, Shalin would be one of the first to find out about it after the AQUA Initiative. Being a Ranger Captain, she operated under the assumption Head Ranger ollie morales would report that as soon as she could. "You sure it wasn't a Space-Time Distortion you saw?"

The longer Cass stands next to Saria, the more her feelings seem to become mixed. She's on one side in awe, on the other vaguely terrified, and then on the other calm, still. Even with legendaries and myths and destruction raging through Hoenn, Cass is convinced that humans are scarier than pokémon. Unaware of Cass' thought process, Jon, in her arms, stares openly at Saria, eyes wide - seemingly in an attempt to take her in completely with one look, and utterly failing. He squirms a bit, and Cass adjusts her position so he could get a better look.

"Seems like it's almost more surprising I haven't met one so far? But then again, I'm not sure if Saria would fit on a normal street ..." She wonders how it would work to live with a pokémon as large as this one. "Does she also eat more than usually? Oh, I didn't mean to be rude-" As apology, Cass is quick to produce a pokémon snack from her jacket - but it's also a bit frozen by now, and appears silly small next to the Venusaur. "... ehm."

Well, now Cass also feels silly small.

Anyway, a Wormhole would definitely more concerning than Cass could fathom, since to her, it's only a chance to find her dad again. "I'm honestly not sure if I saw anything," she admits with a sigh, looking embarrassed now, "It might have been a Distortion? I would need to read more on them ... it's gone now, though." She raises her head again to look around (half of her view being blocked by Saria), and there's no glimpse of what she's seen before anywhere. "... ... ac-actually, where are we?" That's a part of the forest she doesn't recognise.

Shalin Nariya

"Oh, she definitely wouldn't fit on a normal street," Shalin replied with a giggle. "It's part of why my home's out here instead of in the city!" Seeing the snack offered to her, Saria gently scooped it up with her vine, having a bit of difficulty due to the vine's sheer size, but ultimately succeeded. Her smile widened at the gesture of kindness, even if the treat was but a scrap for the Pokémon. "Venusaur don't have to eat unless it's cloudy. They're plants, remember?" Their enormous leaves would produce all the sugar they needed. Pokémon biology, at least on a basic level, came to Rangers easily. It was part of their training, and to a lesser extent, their expertise.

Nabi seemed lost after her latest remark about Space-Time Distortions. Shalin explained what one of them looked like and asked if that was what she saw. Once she had confirmation of Nabi's understanding, only then would Shalin answer her question. "We're not far from Petalburg Plateau. It's where my home's at!" At the mention of home, Lathiel perked up. It seemed the Type: Null wanted to relax in the girl's backyard for a change.

Cassandra is very still while Saria scoops up the little treat. It's both out of awe and to try and make things easier for the gigantic Venusaur - but actually, maybe just putting it in her hands would've been the easiest way. But as so often, Cass only thinks of it too late. She smiles, however, as Saria manages and seems to be happy about the treat. She visibly relaxes upon seeing the Venusaur's smile widen, then turns to Shalin with a bit of a blank blink face. "Ohhh... right," she says, feeling silly once again, but this time's not too bad - she loves learning new information about pokémon, after all, "I didn't think that they wouldn't need to eat at all, but it does make sense ..." She grins, tilting her head a bit, "Seems like I won't need to worry then whenever I get to plant some berries and ask a pokémon to help me out." She doesn't have a grass type - yet - but there's always plans, trying to reach high and higher.

"Petalburg Plateau?" Cass echoes - despite having lived most of her life here and spending quite a fair amount of time in the woods, she couldn't recall if she's ever been there. "I don't think I've actually been here ... and you're living here? That must be nice, kinda, maybe?" she says, growing slightly uncertain in the middle - she doesn't want to presume too much, and also remembers ... yeah, she couldn't do it. She needed fancy coffee beverages once in a while or her mood might become unsteady, in addition to all the other conveniences she enjoys. "But it sounds really cool!"

Shalin Nariya

"Yep! It's in the foothills of the Rusturf Mountain Range. You know, the one that Mount Chimney's a part of?" Shalin asked, walking over to the Type: Null and resting a hand on her back. She responded with a glare, causing her trainer to back off. It seemed that the normal-type was still too moody to want to bear Shalin.

After some more walking, Shalin led the way to a giant, hollow tree with a secret door on its west side. The only hint was an indentation where the handle would be. She pushed its switch to one side, and the door opened to reveal a simple, all-natural living space. A hammock to sleep in, a small table with eight medallions of different colors each with the face of a legendary Pokémon emblazoned upon them, a large battery charged by the Ranger's electric Pokémon to power portable devices with, and more were present. While it lacked permanent power and water, it was clear she had solutions to those. It was like being on a never-ending camping trip.

In the back was a ladder leading up to a second exit. "Upstairs is my back yard," she said. "You and your Pokémon need a place to relax until you're feeling better, you got one. It can get a little noisy, with how many Pokémon are up there, though." Considering every Pokémon she owned was there when she wasn't adventuring with them...

Cassandra mouths"Rusturf Mountain Range" and nods - after all, she did come from the area around her, even if she, right now, feels like she's been here for the first time. An odd, slightly embarrassing but also exciting feeling! "I gotta say, I'm not that much of a mountain person, but ... some of my pokémon are, so I might explore there more."

The thing is just - if you go to the mountains and catch pokémon there, obviously, they would also be mountain pokémon ... for the sake of her pokémon, she'd really become an "any terrain" person, but not without grumbling about it.

"Is it alright if I know the entrance to your house?" Cass couldn't help but ask at the sight of the very well-hidden door. She didn't want to intrude, but since she's also clearly invited, her hesitation only lasted for a couple of moments. "Hehe. Oh, I didn't- I just thought it's like a stationary camping trip here, sort of..." Cass is quick to clarify, hands clasped over her mouth at the possibly rude chuckle as she looked around the house. "It's very lovely!"

And, it's warm most importantly. "Oh, uh, ah- is it alright with Jon here? I can call him into his ball, it's just - frozen it's not much, but he smells a bit nastier than normal-usual when he's thawing." She still holds her sentient garbage bag with a firm grip, not really caring about the stains on her clothes. "But, backyard also sounds quite lovely! I don't think we'll mind the pokémon much."

Shalin Nariya

"I don't go to the mountain range itself often," Shalin clarified, not expecting to even know about the plateau. It was secluded from both the mountain proper and from Petalburg Woods. She did go there on occasion to hunt for new Pokémon to add to her roster, but she had most of the ones she wanted. Plus, her Captain duties kept her busy. "My back yard is also a Pokémon sanctuary; I'm used to getting a few visitors from time to time. It's getting more well-known since I became a Captain." Previously, she had relied on the hidden nature of the door to keep intruders now. Now the doors each had a proper lock and deadbolt.

The place was small; while the tree was large, there were no proper walls like a normal house. Everything was in a single room. "...Yeah, I'd prefer if you withdraw Jon until we get to the back yard," she requested. Whether she did so or not, Shalin would led Cass upstairs, climbing to the top of the ladder and opening the back door before giving her the go-ahead to follow.

Beyond was a large, grassy plateau with a small lake in its center, large enough for even big Pokémon like Milotic to stretch their flippers and go for a swim. There were a large number of Pokémon there -- almost sixty -- and almost all of them wore saddles. They looked as natural as clothing a human would wear, and none of them seemed to mind the extra gear they wore. There were more typical steeds, such as a Shiny Galarian Rapidash and Wyrdeer; there were more unusual ones, such as a pair of Ninetales; there were even rare ones such as a Glastrier and a Slither Wing. She let out the five Pokémon on her person to play with the rest of her standby ones.

The Captain clearly had a passion for what she did.