"Great to meet you, Blue!" Shalin waved back. "And she's Queen Zing," she gestured toward the saddle-wearing Shiny Beedrill that would be the Espeon's opponent. "You're not the only one with a clever strategy to win. You know I'm 2-0 so far, right?" she grinned as the last few seconds of the pre-match timer counted down.

As the starting horn sounded, any banter would be drowned out by the menacing sound of Beedrill wings churning. The green wasp wasted no time, zipping toward the Espeon with her rear FELL STINGER extended. Were it to pierce the Espeon's purple fur, the Eeveelution would begin to feel a burning sensation from within.

Managing to land the first blow, that glory would be short-lived, her close range leaving her open to being pelted by bright, red, gemstone-like objects. Several dented her carapace, making her compound eyes blink rapidly before she shook her head to refocus.

Knowing Starr, her own Espeon, she expected the purple Pokémon to be a master of ranged attacks. Queen Zing didn't fly away at all; instead, she buzzed loudly and menacingly, whipping up a TAILWIND whose purpose was not to speed her up. The aim was to fiercely vibrate her entire body, raising the rate at which her FELL STINGER pumped venom into the psychic-type and to make him as physically uncomfortable as possible.

Shalin had been on the receiving end of nightmare matchups before. At last, she was on the giving end of one. There were few things that terrified psychic Pokémon more than the vibration of insect wings and the venom of their stings. Queen Zing had delivered both.

It would be far from a one-sided fight, the Espeon's weaponization of money batting the Beedrill back a safe distance. Sensing the wasp's urge to punish the Eeveelution, Shalin raised her right hand to her MEGA CIRCLET's Key Stone, both now bathed in the light of MEGA EVOLUTION.

Assuming her apex form, the green Beedrill held nothing back, using her four foreleg stings to launch a doubly dense barrage of TWINEEDLES upon Priam's partner.

Was Priam in the tournament just to collect off his Espeon's PAY DAY, and not actually win matches? Strange. Then again, she was no stranger to the unusual; she was a walking anomaly herself, especially in her Sygna Suit. Her Beedrill wore s saddle, for Arceus' sake. Sitting between their wings had to be unfathomably loud, and the vibration had to be uncomfortable. She was just... built different, it seemed.

It did not take long for the red flag to be waved in Priam's direction, Shalin the winner of her third match in a row. What a hot start! In high spirits, she waved toward Priam, the girl quickly taking a seat in her Beedrill's saddle if Priam wanted a picture. "Thanks for the match!" she chirped, Queen Zing happy to crawl about with her trainer in tow.