Shalin's vision faded from white as she found herself in the RKS Simulation once more, this time in a butcher shop that looked like it was from an awful part of town. She tilted her head toward a wall, covered her mouth, and sneezed. It was well-known by now that Slowpoke Tails were a delicacy, and harvesting them was fairly easy, given that they took five seconds to respond to any stimulus, including pain.

"Abhorrent," Eris may have been able to hear Shalin mutter under her breath. Though Slowpoke were... well, slow to respond to anything, they were still intelligent psychic Pokémon. She seemed to have a young co-worker, too. Shaking her head, she greeted her. "Hi there," the Captain said. not quite ready to introduce herself. When pressed to chop the Pokémon's tails off, all she could do was shake. "I... I c-c-can't," she stuttered, nearly dropping the knife on her foot. She understood harvesting Pokémon for food, but only what was necessary to eat. This operation went well beyond that.

Were there no limits to humanity's greed?

With the butcher turning on Shalin and Eris, she acted quickly, hurling the bladed object toward the angered owner, but wide enough to avoid actually drawing blood. "You don't have to tell me twice!" the Captain cried back. clicking Treble's Poké Ball to put more obstacles between the butcher and the two ladies. His scales started vibrating menacingly like a snake's tail, though it didn't seem to intimidate their assailant one bit.

Every fork and knife that came at the Kommo-o found his scaly armor, the utensils finding chinks between his scales severed in two from the powerful thrumming. Raising his front paws toward the butcher, they turned into a blur from how rapidly they shook. Before he could cause any real damage, Shalin withdrew the Kommo-o and started to heed Eris' words, fleeing on foot with the intention of hopping on a Pokémon as soon as she was outdoors.

As Shalin put on a desperate burst of speed to escape the butcher shop, she felt a blade stab her in the back; the butcher had barely nicked her before the simulation faded to a lake. Despite use of Levy's LIFE DEW, the Persian would not react, still motionless, breaths heavy as ever. It did help Shalin, though; the wound on her back stopped bleeding. It still thumped and was quite discomforting, but there would be no further complications.

"I'm okay," Shalin replied. "I... think we're safe for now. Forgot to introduce myself. Captain Shalin Nariya of Rustboro." Whether she got Eris' name or not, a strange sense from the center of the lake beckoned Shalin. Withdrawing Treble, Shalin edged closer to the lakefront, looking like she could hop on the Milotic's back at any moment.

"We have?" Shalin asked. It had been so long; she had forgotten the child's face so long ago. It had been since the December before last. "Because I don't remember it." The duo might end up meeting more, given Shalin's strengths would tilt her toward abused Pokémon -- and ollie morales ' Amnesty program.

The shower of LIFE DEW continued to rain onto the Shadow Persian without effect. "I want to help the Persian. But I've done everything I can. I think there's something at the bottom of the lake preventing it from healing. I want to at least take a look. Levy here can help me breathe underwater, too." The Milotic sounded a regal coo before turning away from Eris, reining the water-type downward with a splash.

Eris' instincts were right; the lake was deeper than Shalin thought. Too deep for her Milotic to get to the bottom of. Too deep for her to see all the way to the bottom of... other than the presumably sleeping Azelf at a great distance, the only thing giving off light at such depths. In the legendary Pokémon's presence, the Milotic began to slow to the point where Eris' Floatzel could easily overtake her.

All of a sudden, the dive bubble popped around Shalin, and she began taking in water. With his trainer in grave danger, the Milotic reversed course, flicking her tail back and forth as quickly as she could ascend. To his dismay, there was simply too much ground to cover. Shalin's vision dissolved to wavering darkness long before she could reach the surface...