Just as Shalin had finished drinking a can of lemonade, a tournament announcement blared over the venue's loudspeakers.

"Attention all Vital City Tournament participants. Pairings are up for round ten. Pairings are up for round ten."

Scrolling through the pairings list on her phone, she found a name she didn't expect to see: Raziel Beckett . Ousted as Head Ranger, then ousted from AQUA. She felt bad for the Slateport Captain; he seemed like such a hard worker, only to have his positions taken away from him. Ultimately it was none of her business what happened in the boardroom upstairs.

"Long time, Captain!" Shalin waved to her fellow Ranger. "Great to see you're still kicking it! How's your tournament run going?" she asked, giving Razz enough time to answer before hurling her Poké Ball into the center of the battle court. Emerging from within was a Shiny Beedrill of immense size: one the Rustboro Ranger by this point was infamous for flying on.

"Not like I have a choice in the matter - we battle whoever the computer tells us to!" Shalin half-joked. There would be little time for the Captains to catch up now; with the horn about to sound, the gallery awaited what they paid for.

The bug-type did her best to stay as distant as she could from Ra, Shalin well aware of the harm those spikes on the backs of his hands could inflict. Loudly buzzing to generate a TAILWIND behind her, Queen Zing zipped and zagged about in an effort to avoid the volley of ICE PUNCHES.

The ICE PUNCH to the thorax made Queen Zing's eyes glow a bright blue, and in a bad way. With the Riolu firmly latched onto the Beedrill's back, there was only one way she could dislodge it.

Landing in the center of the battle court, the insect tilted her wings toward the ground and started vibrating them as hard as she could. The force of every wingbeat reflected off the ground and back into her body, causing her entire body to rattle visibly and harshly. It would be a matter of how long the fighting-type's muscles could last unprotected; at the first sign of falling, the Beedrill would pounce with a POISON JAB!

The Slateport Captain's combat prowess shown by his former position on the AQUA Initiative were apparent; Ra was outpacing Queen Zing by every measure, the VACUUM WAVE putting distance between them. As much as Shalin was afraid of Mega Evoling Queen Zing due to her vicious nature when intoxicated on Infinity Energy, if she wanted a win, she had to. She raised the middle and index fingers of her right hand to the MEGA CIRCLET she wore over her forehead, both her and the oversized wasp glowing with the light of MEGA EVOLUTION.

Her wings' drone all the louder now, Queen Zing held nothing back. Raising and extending her rear FELL STINGER, she swooped toward the Riolu, sweeping in to inject her most concentrated venom into the fighting-type.

With so much venom coursing through Ra, Queen Zing didn't need to risk being in close quarters with the Riolu. She didn't want to be a sitting Ducklett, but she also didn't want to get too close. She was tired, too, unable to maintain steady flight.

Whipping a TAILWIND behind herself with her loud wings, Queen Zing circled the outer edges of the battle court, trying to goad Ra into a more direct attack. Whether by time or by burning venom within, Razz's Pokémon would need to make a move if their team wanted to win.

Whether by being picked up by the TAILWIND or by Ra's will expiring thanks to the Beedrill's venom, Shalin had won. "Thanks, Captain," she answered. "This tournament's helped me understand how to control her Mega Evolution a lot better." Before the event, she was uncontrollable in her Mega Evolved form, often attacking indiscriminately. Fighting so many regulation battles gave Shalin a much better understanding of how the Infinity Energy conduit worked. One day, she would feel confident sitting in Queen Zing's saddle while Mega Evolved.

"It would be a pleasure to work with you again," Shalin offered. "Next time you've got a ticket that requires a bunch of experienced Rangers, CC me on RangerNet. I'd love to help out." With that, she turned around, tired from all the battles. Just two more, and she could go back to her hotel room for the night...