"Not at all!" Shalin chirped, the roar of a Pyroar scaring a flock of nearby Taillow and causing them to scatter. "Scar's in a good mood, it seems!" she added, recognizing that Pyroar as her own. And that was just one of the many dozens of Pokémon roaming the grassy plateau above. It was a little cooler than she was used to, but the weather wasn't cold by any stretch. The weather might even be welcome when she worked up a sweat. Eddie might, too.

Setting her pack down in a corner, Shalin gestured toward the ladder bolted to the rear of the abode. She unlocked the door at the top and swung it open. Were Eddie to follow Shalin up to the back exit, he would witness a vast, grassy plateau with a small lake in its center. There were large Pokémon frolicking about. What was most striking was that almost every single one of them was wearing a saddle. There were some truly unusual ones, too. In particular, the sight of a Kommo-o wearing riding gear, on the prowl like a quadrupedal dinosaur, could have been jarring. Who would willingly ride one of those? The vibration from their scales had to sting. Not to say that the Persian, Raticate, and seven Shiny Eeveelutions weren't unusual; that one was just the cream of the crop.

"This is it," Shalin said, smiling in anticipation of how Eddie would react to seeing her menagerie.

Technically the land wasn't hers, but it was remote enough from town that no one cared. Who would be crazy enough to live so far away from civilization? There would be only minimal power supplied by electric Pokémon, the lake instead of a proper bathtub to cleanse oneself, and many other things that city-dwellers would take for granted. "It's part of living off-grid, hehehe!" Shalin giggled.

The sight of the Paldean Tauros attracted some of Shalin's other Pokémon, particularly the ones that were stronger and occasionally gave the Ranger trouble to control. Treble, a Kommo-o, looked unassuming until the scales on his back started to vibrate, creating a low-pitched but pleasant humming sound. In the distance was an Iron Leaves, prancing and dancing about as she glowed a faint purple-pink. Perhaps the most unusual of her ride Pokémon was... a Venusaur one and a half stories tall? How would one even sit on that, and what made it so thrilling?

"Hi there, Beau!" Shalin greeted the Paldean Tauros, giving him a gentle pat if he allowed it. "Aren't you in a good mood!"

Shalin smiled at Eddie's question; she got it quite frequently. It made sense; she had a lot of Pokémon that were very large for their size. "It's less what I feed them and more where they came from. Ever since Space-Time Distortions made their way into Hoenn, really large Pokémon have become a lot more common." They were still biological anomalies, yes, but it made finding extremely large specimens easier. Not to say they weren't common, but they were reasonable to hunt for since then.

The Venusaur extended one of her vines next to Shalin. She gave its enormous tip a gentle rub. With how thick it was... did she really ride her Venusaur by sitting on the vine? It may have been outlandish for Eddie to consider. "If you really want to show him, I'll change into my Sygna Suit soon. For now, though, I owe Beau something." Turning back to the Paldean Tauros, Shalin likewise gave him a gentle rub if he allowed it. "Ready to take my challenge on? Don't think I've forgotten!"

Beau was such a sweetheart, seeming unbothered by the swaths of Pokémon surrounding him. There sure were some unusual ones, especially a giant Raticate that scampered by. Though the seat on Squeals' back covered most of it, it still may have beckoned Eddie to take note. Sadly, many of Shalin's Pokémon, as fun as it would be to ride them, didn't look like they could bear the weight of a larger person. Had he fancied himself an adrenaline rush, though, there were still a few that could!

Shalin knew how rough of a ride Beau could be from battling him in the tournament. She looked forward to the challenge! She gently gave the dark-colored Tauros another pat before scampering aboard. She could feel the tension in his giant muscles just by grabbing on. Maybe she was getting in over her head.

Were Bwau to look closely at one of Saria's vines, he might notice a tiny shred of clothing piercing its sharp tip, yet there was no bloodstain on it, or any evidence it was used in a strike. Furthermore, there was another shred of clothing embedded near the base of where the vine's bulb was - the business end of the whip.

She didn't... did she?

"Will do! I might have to, given how nasty fighting against him was in the tournament!" With her skill and how well Beau was trained, she trusted them both that she wouldn't be taking any HORN ATTACKS or STOMPS to her body if Beau were strong enough to buck her off. She had a feeling it would be a when, not an if.

Rather than egg the Tauros on, she gently squeezed Beau's sides, letting the aquatic bull set the pace.

Beau didn't seem too responsive to Shalin's commands at first. Perhaps the Tauros wasn't trained to listen to a rider at all? Maybe that was part of the challenge, too. Was Eduardo Hisakawa looking for someone to break Beau in? Regardless of the motive, this was going to be fun. She had never actually been on a Tauros before, though she was familiar with how strong they were.

Shalin was one to heed Beau's warning, bracing herself for the rodeo to come. And did it ever come. The water-type rocked her back and forth, constantly and skillfully throwing his weight around to try to unseat the girl. "Whoo-hoo!" she cheered at the top of a particularly rough bucking motion.

She knew not to reach for Beau's horns... not until the finale, at least. Driven to their ANGER POINT, Tauros were among the fiercest bucking Pokémon in the world. She might take a spill, but to her, the challenge would be worth it. She had stayed strong in her first eight seconds of glory. Now it was time to rack up the score.

As Beau's anger grew, so did his strength, every impact of his hooves with the ground tearing up grass around them. Shalin loved every bit of it, loving the challenge of struggling against the Tauros trying to buck her off. She whooped loudly as the fighting-type heaved upward right where she was sitting, rocking her with strength she had not felt in a long time. Not since her rodeo with Letheia, the Ninetales she had caught at the bottom of Shoal Cave. Even so, the redness in her hands was starting to show.

Entertained by the show, an Iron Leaves pranced about the Romping Grounds, playfully bucking to imitate Beau. It seemed she wanted a turn, too. She even imitated Beau's AQUA JET the best she could with a QUICK ATTACK, her metallic horns slicing the air just as effectively as a Virizion's would. The AQUA JET caught Shalin a bit off guard, not realizing Beau was a water-type. She lost her balance for a split second before recovering it, her heart racing as Beau galloped faster and faster. She was confident she could handle the bull's top speed, though; it was just supernaturally fast Pokémon, like her newly-won Zeraora, that frightened her with raw speed.

That lake was approaching, and she didn't want to see what Beau could do in the water. She desperately pulled on his hide, trying to get him to turn away from the lake. If he wouldn't respond to that, then she would have little choice but to try to use his horns to steer.