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Lutgarde has mounted Oreo for the current trip, seeing as Shalin chose to saddle one of her own many quadrupedals. Sylv is also loafing comfortably in front of the saddle, but his comfortable stance is a lie to the attentive eyes - he knows of the dangers of the region, even if they're, today, not on duty for that.

"Hmm, a favourite?" they echo, wondering. Legendaries have never been of much consideration for them - they all seemed to distant to their day-to-day that they probably don't even know that many, unless some urban myth is tied to them. (They really loved urban mythologies, the whisper of the streets.) "I think I've always thought of ... Xerneas? as quite neat," they eventually say. "What about you?"

In Hoenn, too, it seems like legends are way, way more real than they used to be in Kalos, at least for them. It seems impossible here not to get mixed up somehow in whatever shakes the region at the moment.

Shalin Nariya

Shalin looked a bit confused, not being familiar with the Kalosian myths. "Which one is that?" she asked, having never been exposed to the horrors that bryan delarosa 's Patron inflicted upon Mauville's Gym Leader at Dewford's resurfaced island. "Haven't heard of that myth before." Were Lutgarde to elaborate, Shalin would quickly become interested.

Once they were done, Shalin would answer her own question. "My favorite is Keldeo of the Swords of Justice. I've actually met Hoenn's Keldeo, and they were... a lot smaller than the Unovan legends depicted them to be." Perhaps the Terastal mists would be able to bring the Keldeo she knew of to life. Who knew what would form from them? Perhaps even a Pokémon they had never seen before.

Shalin gently tapped Lathiel's sides, the Type: Null starting to walk toward the entrance to the Giant Chasm's lower level. "Ready to head inside and beneath the cloud layer?"

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"The myth's quite well-known in Kalos," Lutgarde replies to Shalin's confusion, and explains further, "It's forming a duo, sort of, with Yveltal, and they both maintain the balance between life and death. Xerneas has the ... well, more favourable job of being sort of a lifebringer? In our village, we had a really old tree which supposedly has been touched by Xerneas before. Have not ever seen it myself, however," they add, looking ahead - tera crystals en masse, capable of even terastallising Sylv without a Tera Orb.

As Shalin shares her favourite legend, it's up to Lutgarde to be in the unknown. "The Swords of Justice?" they ask, curious. "Reminds me of the dog with the sword I saw with Josh in the simulation the other day ..." they ponder. Would this be similiar? They chuckle a bit at Shalin's remark about its size, nodding in agreement, "Who knows? Guess we got to find out."

Oreo's neighing softly as they approach the entrance to the cavern, seemingly on high alert. Lutgarde pats their shoulder reassuringly, before nodding. "Let's head in and see what we'll find!"

Shalin Nariya

Shalin had been used to hearing legends about Pokémon that were dominant over an element. Lightning, fire, water, or wind. Those were the ones her Johtonian heritage made her most familiar with. But to have dominion over life and death itself? That was power unlike anything Shalin had ever considered. Could a human even use that kind of power responsibly?

Perhaps that was why the gods were so reluctant to ally with humans.

"Yes, specifically their apprentice, Keldeo," Shalin clarified. "With his Hydro Pump attacks coming from his hooves, he's gotta be one of the fastest, scariest, most scream-your-lungs-out rides in the world!"

With that, Shalin and her Type: Null steed led the way beneath the cloud layer and to the Terastal Caverns. The crystals within gleamed unusually bright, and for an ominous reason: a Flutter Mane in their path was using one to Terastallize into a Fairy-type! Stretching its pink tendrils toward them, it looked like it could attack at any moment!

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Lutgarde's eyes widen at Shalin's description, definitely not having expected the hydropumps out of the hooves acceleration. "Like a water-powered rocket, huh?" they grin, remembering some experiments they did in school. Well, they couldn't understand what they've been about to this day, but building rockets with bottles has been fun in practice, too!

As they descend, it really doesn't take long until they're met with a small, but still terrifying fellow. "What's that?" they ask, pondering - they haven't seen this kind of pokémon before. It appears to be pre-historic even to them, so maybe ... "A paradox pokémon?"

Sylv senses the threat and readily jumps from Sylv, with crystals forming around him, too - to meet the terastallization of their foe in kind.

Shalin Nariya

Before Shalin could tell the rest of her story, a DAZZLING GLEAM from the Flutter Mane's feelers made Shalin's and Lathiel's eyes burn, the Sygna Suited girl reaching for her Beedrill's Poké Ball. With roaring wings whose noise rumbled through the Terastal caverns, the emerald wasp charged the Flutter Mane with twin POISON JABS, knocking the Terastallized Pokémon to the ground. She wasn't done yet, though; even after pinning the wild, she continued to vibrate in place, her foe wailing in pain from the insect's brutality.

"Phew, that's one problem taken care of," Shalin exhaled, still somewhat blind from the intense Fairy-type attack. "As I was saying, you're absolutely right. That's exactly how Keldeo moves. I know - I've seen him before. From what I read, Keldeo is just barely big enough for one person to ride him comfortably. The one I saw across the Silent Icelands, Hoenn's Keldeo, was a fair bit smaller than the legends suggest. He looked at me with lament; it was almost like he wished I could hop on him."

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Sylv is quick to throw up a Light Screen, meeting light with more light and somehow lessening the effect of the Dazzling Gleam. However, he hasn't been quick enough to cover both of the trainers, and looks at Shalin with an apologetic look once the battle's been over.

"Are you alright?" they ask with concern, as they themself also try and blink away the remnants of dazzle to the best of their abilities. Sylph seems to appear unbothered, but Lutgarde feels her flight waver a little bit, but gladly, they're not going anywhere else at the moment. "Maybe there's better luck here then ... even if for a brief moment." If those were anything like what they've seen in the dynite ore extraction, then they would definitely not last forever.

However, it also appears like they might have attracted the attention of something while that short battle's been going on. "I hear something..."

Shalin Nariya

"I...think so..." Shalin huffed, catching her breath from the encounter with the immensely powerful paradox Pokémon. Lathiel, too, was huffing, the normal-type's vision still draped in pink and white from the strong Fairy-type attack. "Those paradox Pokémon are no joke, and I'm still trying to get a grasp on how to control my own."

From the source of the noise came a brilliant light, flashing rainbow colors and making it almost impossible to see without stressing the eyes painfully so. "Arceus, that's bright!" Shalin swore, even the reflections off the cave walls luminous enough to make her squint. Were Lutgarde strong enough to gaze toward the light's source, they would see a cervid Pokémon, its eight antlers the source of the heavenly, rainbow-colored radiance. "Stellar Terastallization?" she asked them, unsure just what was standing before them...

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Lutgarde braces themself for another attack, as does Sylv and Sylph, but- strangely enough, they also aren't entirely sure if the light actually means them ill ... "I've never seen such a light before-" Lutgarde agrees, shielding her eyes from the light, but also ...

...

There's a bit of curiosity, indeed, as they slowly try and steal a glance at the source of the light. Slowly, the light seems to lose intensity without losing brilliance, and they could make out a silhouette. A deer-like form, with crystalline antlers ... "It seems like it, not? But I think it's something differnet." There's soft fur that slowly becomes visible. This silhouette isn't gem-like, isn't terastallised ... "That's ... well, we kinda seemed to have summoned it with our talk. That's ... Xerneas."

They're in disbelief, not entirely sure if they haven't been knocked out and are dreaming, but then again ... those crystals hold astonishing power. "Not the real, I assume, but ... well, I wouldn't know, either way." The Xerneas seems to regard them with a calm and patient, perhaps even piercing and challenging look - neither moving to attack nor to move away.

Shalin Nariya

The Xerneas' presence made Shalin's heart accelerate. What was it doing here, and why did it look Terastallized? It wasn't wearing a crown or even a crystalline body, yet it glowed with a strong field of Fairy Terastal energy. "It's so majestic..." she gasped, not able to say much else in the legendary Pokémon's presence. Its eight antlers glowed all the colors of the rainbow as it stared them down with a stern yet patient look on its face. "What do you think it wants?" she asked.

The Xerneas slowly stepped toward both of them and crouched, lowering its antlers to gently touch both of them if they allowed so. Shalin reached toward the fairy-type, she and her Type: Null rejuvenated from their wounds fighting all the paradox Pokémon. "Are you saying you want to take us somewhere?"

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Lutgarde is in awe at the conjured Legendary's appearance. They've seen it in picture books plenty of times, but seeing it here, made manifest, is an entirely different story. Energy fills the air around it, and also rejuvenates them and their pokémon. "Thank you for this," they say with a small smile, before turning to Shalin with a thoughtful look.

As it were, however, that look doesn't stay for too long. "Well, there's only one way to find out, is there?" they laugh, a bit quietly in the presence of the Xerneas. There might be a lot of possibly misplaced trust here, but they couldn't imagine that the Legendary would mean them harm here, and if the Tera Crystals bounce of their imagination, it had to be true, right? They don't quite dare in this moment to actually mount the Legendary, and simply wait for it to lead the way on their Togekiss. Sylv, however, is a bit more bold and a bit more physical in that regard - he'd hop onto the Xerneas while staying connected to Lutgarde, if the Legendary would allow to do so.

Shalin Nariya

The Xerneas' shrill cry made Shalin's skin tingle, its starry, pink eyes staring her down. It was as though the Fairy-type was disapproving of her hesitation, trying to communicate that it would take Sylph and Lutgarde away from her if she didn't join them. A rainbow-colored tether connected Sylph to the Xerneas, ensuring the duo would travel at the same pace. "W-when you put it like th-that..." Shalin stammered, shaking her head and climbing onto the legendary cervid's back.

After the Terastal mockery of the Kalosian deity stood, Shalin felt a field of strong GRAVITY around her, effectively harnessing her to the Xerneas' back. The Pokémon began to glow with all seven colors of the rainbow, radiating an enormous about of TERASTAL ENERGY amid the display of GEOMANCY. Shalin's muscles tensed as she held on tight, the Captain watching her temporary legendary steed lower its antlers and drag its front right leg across the ground. "I think we're ready! Let's ride, Xerneas!" she chirped.

That excitement would be followed by a scream as the eight-horned Pokémon and its two guest riders dashed down to Area Zero's depths, a prismatic rainbow trailing behind them. Little did they know what was to come when the true strength of the Xerneas' special art kicked in...

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(Just to be sure, it's Lutgarde+Togekiss connected to Sylveon+Xerneas+Shalin methinks? XD Just assuming the tether is to Sylph, not Sylv!)

Lutgarde definitely welcomes the tether connecting the Togekiss to Xerneas after the display of Geomancy. They can feel something linger in the air now, as if the very terrain around them is now more pliant to the Legendary's will. It feels like it's just an illusionary, fleeting thought, but the more they let that feeling sink in, the more it also feels quite real.

This might also be a sideeffect of the Tera Crystals.

Xerneas is a beautiful sight to behold, and both Lutgarde and Sylv's eyes sparkle. "You good there, buddy?" they ask their Sylveon with a grin, but affected by the Gravity, the Sylveon's simply chirping happily as it carefully arranges his bows around his loafing form.

"We've gotta hang in tight, too, I think this one's gonna be quite a ride." Even the starting dash is not only fast, but powerful, and frankly, Sylph might also just let herself be dragged along for the ride a little bit - but she does stir, making sure that they wouldn't tumble and crash as the speed picks up.

Shalin Nariya