ULTRA DEEP SEA: SE

1st Expedition

Elaine had no idea what to expect from the area she was set to go on an expedition in. Suffice to say that going on an expedition in a place classified as a "deep sea" made her question whether she needed to bring some form of protective gear. She could have probably gotten ahold of the suit she had used for the meteorite option if need be.

The last time, she had been exploring a vast desert, so she had expected something different, but this was an entirely different beast.

It was bizarre and surreal.

But, here she was, standing on ground at this bizarre locus.

"At least it's not sweltering, this time."

Elaine adjusted her collar as she looked to her current partner for this expedition, a young woman she had once met on a beach at a large event before.

"So, you've had a bit of a lay of the land before, right?"

---

TL;DR:

• Enter

Tags: Shalin Nariya

Bass Boost landed on the dark, rocky ground with a thud. It was the opposite of sweltering; their environment was very cool. Not cold like a tundra, but certainly not a pleasant Spring day in Hoenn. With a loud ribbit, all the bumps on her head, arms, and back, including the four beneath the saddle Shalin was sitting in, began to shake with EARTHQUAKE-level vibrations. Their strange environment seemed to slow visual perspective; were she to peer in the amphibian's direction, she would not only be able to see individual vibrations of each of the bumps, but also individual wingbeats of the Flygon above that was powering the Captain's SYGNA SUIT. With the Infinity Energy flowing, Shalin gave the Pokémon a gentle pat: a signal that the warm-up was over.

Once she had recovered her awareness after the intense thrumming sensation coursed through her, Shalin answered Elaine's question. "I wasn't ignoring you. Just had to get my Sygna Suit warmed up. Not too deep - most of my time here was spent excavating the Quaestor Lucis. Today, the League wants me to take some readings at the very bottom of the Ultra Sea. We'll need some Pokémon that can shine light down there."

Once Elaine was ready to go, Shalin would lead the way to the sunken Megalopolan vessel, past it, and to a field of trenches. Bass Boost swam through the strange, viscous atmosphere as though it were water, occasionally tickling Shalin with her vibration to keep her wits about her. "So, remember how I wanted to befriend and ride Keldeo? Well, I met him. He's... a lot smaller than the legends I knew of. Too small for me, even."

ULTRA DEEP SEA: SE

1st Expedition

As her expedition partner intiated an earthquake with her Seismitoad, Elaine had taken her position back atop Tiamat. She was honestly surprised just how much milage she had gotten from both of these expeditions from riding atop its back as it levitated.

Unlike Shalin, she did not have the luxury of wearing a Sygna Suit. Nor did she have the luxury of bringing the spacesuit she had used before on this exploration mission too. For better or for worse, she was stuck exposed to the elements with what she had--a black, hooded jacket, a pair of black pants, and a ponytail. That meant that her neck and face were exposed, so she unfortunately had to make do with the current situation.

"No, that makes sense. The desert was a crazy enough place already, but I can't imagine what it's like in a place like this." After all, it was this weird state of environment that seemed to not know whether it wanted to be underwater or above ground. It felt like it was a world trying to be two things at once.

"That's a bit unfortunate." Elaine had remembered Shalin's own talk about that dream but reality was often one to throw things for a loop and clearly that was no different for Shalin. Elaine was not too familiar with Unovan legends, so it was hard to say much about Keldeo beyond that. "So, did that dream of yours change ever so slightly?"

As she said that, though, she felt an odd sensation on the back of her neck. She had been atop her Flygon's back, so she should not have been surprised when something had stroked across what she had left exposed. Clearly, there were Pokemon floating around.

But the soft, fleshy, almost tenetacle like sensation across the back of her neck seemed to have no source. As she looked behind herself, she could not even see a Pokemon remotely similar to the sensation she had felt. Though, had she looked a bit differently, she may have noticed a jellyfish-like silhouette and some odd markings.

"Well, that was weird." She placed her hand to the back of her neck, but whatever liquid she had felt left behind had seemingly already evaporated. There was nothing there.

---

TL;DR:

• Socialization
• Elaine has been touched by a Nihilego and has not realized it. Neurotoxins, not nanomachines.
• Setting up for prompt 01 "become poisoned by nihilego toxin temporarily" and prompt 08 "the deeper one ventures into the realm, the more you become paranoid"

Tags: Shalin Nariya

Elaine's Flygon didn't go unnoticed; she smiled, pushing off the back of the Seismitoad and letting the Flygon catch her in the dense environment that the duo could swim through if they wanted. "It did," she answered as Sandy slowly sank toward the trench, the low-light conditions beginning to get progressively darker the deeper she went. "Even if he was big enough, I don't think I could have handled him. He was doing somersaults with his hooves so fast it would have made me sick just trying to hold on." Not to mention with such high-pressure jets on his feet, he could buck Shalin with bone-shattering force if he wanted.

Even Hoenn's wildest Pokémon rider had her limits.

As she continued to descend, and Elaine as well if she followed, the hum of Flygon wings seemed to become louder as it drowned out what would have been resounding silence. "What was weird?" she asked, reaching for another Poké Ball as they were soon to reach a point where the realm's natural lighting would not reach...

ULTRA DEEP SEA: SE

1st Expedition

Elaine could not help but find herself laughing at Shalin's story. But that laughter had all come to a close with the strenge sensation she had felt on her neck. "It felt like something brushed by my neck. But I see nothing and..."

She didn't want to dismiss the event, but there was nothing she could do at this point. "It's probably fine."

Elaine sighed before looking down into the depths they were about to traverse. It was a space beyond the reach of the lights from the world around them--a crevice of pure darkness.

"I'll be relying on you, Tiamat."

---

TL;DR:

• Tries to verbally brush off what happened, but explains anyway
• Peers into the depths
• Setting up for prompt 01 "become poisoned by nihilego toxin temporarily" and prompt 08 "the deeper one ventures into the realm, the more you become paranoid"

Tags: Shalin Nariya

Shalin's eyes widened when she heard what happened to Elaine. "Nihilego poison is no joke," she replied. The rock and poison-type Ultra Beast was one of the rifts' biggest dangers. Their venom inebriated not the body, but the mind, which was far more dangerous. "Keep your wits sharp. If you let your guard down, you might not get them back."

Warning aside, Shalin descended alongside Tiamat. The visual sensation of seeing Sandy's individual wingbeats, yet able to feel vibrations from them churning, was even more disorienting than riding on the wings themselves. "It's going to be almost impossible to see down there," she pointed out before getting a clever idea. At Shalin's command, Sandy landed on a narrow ledge on a nearby cliff and relaxed her wings. "This is gonna look really weird and unbelievable, but trust me. This is what Sygna Suits can do."

Shalin lifted her right leg above her Flygon's back and turned, looking like she was going to sit side-saddle on the dragon. Nothing unusual yet. The unusual followed when she slid down the wing, Sandy raising it to keep her trainer from falling into the abyss. The two radiated a green glow, illuminating the darkness around them in a small area like seeing through night vision goggles. "I knew the light of Infinity Energy would have a use somewhere," she said with a smile, grabbing onto the wing with all four limbs as she braced herself for the buzzing to come.

It was the best way she had to cast light over a large area using the Pokémon she had with her!

ULTRA DEEP SEA: SE

1st Expedition

"Yeah. Got it." Elaine clenched a fist for a moment and took a deep breath. At this point, if it were the toxin Shalin was speaking of, it was already too late. So, she just needed to keep her wits about her as the group moved forward.

Thankfully, they were allowed room to go deeper as the light expanded upon the path before them. As it did, Elaine's eyes wandered to something very specific.

They were heading down to the remains of a Megalopolan ship named the Quaestor Lucis, a ship very similar to the one she had encountered in the desert. In the desert, though, there was evidence that the Megalopolans had moved around outside of the ship and even underground in survival attempts that ended up in vain.

Perhaps the ones that ended up here had possibly done the same. After all, they had been stranded in this area and there was clearly a lot of space that was pitch black beyond reason. It stood to reason that they had created some way to navigate back to their central hub. But rather than saying anything out loud, she opted to keep things silent until she could confirm what she had just seen. If she could find more on the way, that meant that her hypothesis would be accurate.

"So, how far away is it? Given that we have to go through this, I imagine we have quite a ways to go."

As Elaine finished asking, however, she heard two major things. The first was the sound of water dripping but coming behind her. However, things didn't feel right. It almost felt like the water was coming from footsteps. What the source of the footsteps was, however, she couldn't say for certain.

Only that they were coming from behind.

Every so often, she would hear the steps and snap her head back behind to eventually see nothing there. It was like there was an extra step behind it all.

The second thing she heard was a persistent, low amplitude thump. It wasn't frequent. It wasn't loud. But every other minute she would hear it at first. But as time went on, she could hear it more and more.

Something wasn't right and she could feel a cold sweat forming on her.

As if something was following them.

As if something was watching them.

As if something was making sure she realized something.

That it was there.

---

TL;DR:

• Tries to verbally brush off what happened, but explains anyway
• Peers into the depths
• Setting up for prompt 01 "become poisoned by nihilego toxin temporarily" and prompt 20 "explore a deep trench that seems endless and filled with horrifying hallucinations"
• Prompt 08-Paranoia fulfilled. Elaine hears auditory hallucinations of footsteps.
• Prompt 12-Realm's heartbeat-like sound fulfilled-Elaine hears the heartbeat slowly getting louder and more frequent.

Tags: Shalin Nariya

Shalin's Infinity Energy-fueled light was so much fun for her to shed. To raise its luminosity, she had to push her suit closer to the highest output it could manage. "Alright! Bug Buzz me, Sandy!" Shalin cheered, holding on tightly to the wing she was seated on.

The Flygon's humming noise made it impossible for Shalin to hear any of the subtle noises that Elaine did. All she heard was the shrill noise of her Pokémon's wings vibrating what would have been invisibly fast within Hoenn. In this strange, half-liquid, half-air environment, Elaine would be able to see the Flygon's individual wingbeats, see Shalin's sublime form and her suit's scaled rippling, and the field of eyeballs in the endless abyss.

Beneath her suit, Shalin felt her hair stand on end, her skin tingling massively from Sandy's wings buzzing her. The deeper they got into the charm, the more disjointed the audio and visual aspects became, even the rider herself able to see her surroundings -- including the hundreds of eyeballs.

For the first time exploring any of the Ultra wilds, Hoenn's Wildest Rider was genuinely scared.

ULTRA DEEP SEA: SE

1st Expedition

It wasn't right. It wasn't right.

The further she descended down with Shalin, the more she felt it all. A chill running down her spine. A sensation like her hair was trying to stand on end.

Worst of all, she kept on hearing that damned footstep and that damned heartbeat.

As if it were getting closer, the sound got louder, but nothing would ever show.

Something was watching. Something was after them.

But the fact that Shalin had been using her Sygna Suit in conjunction with her Flygon meant that they probably couldn't hear the ongoing noises. The beating of the Flygon's wings were a beautiful sight, even as the only light in a grand darkness.

But as they descended the depths, she had seen something in the corner of her eye--something that was not the sight of wing beats in slow motion.

At first, it was just one eye. But then another popped up. Then another. In rapid succession, the world around her almost turned red as it was littered with distant eyes and mouths.

As her eyes focused in on the eyes gazing down upon her, it almost seemed like their very pupils were pulsing in tone with the rhythmic heartbeat. The mouths all curved into vile, toothy grins.

"Stop..."

She shuddered. She clenched her own arms and she looked down.

She was being watched. She was being judged. She was being ridiculed.

She did not fear random eyes. But these were not random eyes. Each of thos eyes she had seen at one time in her life. The eyes of victims she had long since buried.

"Just stop it..."

From each of them produced something different.

A noose.

A knife.

A gun.

All familiar objects that burrowed from the depths and crevices of her mind.

And they all pointed at her.


"STOP IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!"

The detective cried out as she released a certain Pokemon from its Pokeball. The Inteleon oozed a dark aura as it gazed at the surrounding world.


"ANNIHILATE IT ALL. FREEZE EVERYTHING AND FRACTURE!"

With its hands, Lockon pointed its fingers towards the very air itself as it let out a misasmatic beam of ice into the objects of Elaine's hallucination.

---

TL;DR:

• Prompt 01-Affected by Nihilego toxin temporarily-currently belligerent and berserk
• Prompt 20-explore a deep trench that seems endless and filled with horrifying hallucinations-hallucinations of the eyes and mouths of murder victims she's faced jeer at her, all while the causes of their deaths point square at her
• The combination of the multiple hallucinations and the paranoia trigger an absolute belligerent and berserk state in Elaine fueled by the Nihilego Neurotoxin
• Inteleon uses Shadow Chill at command

Tags: Shalin Nariya

The faster Sandy's wings flapped, the more illuminated her surroundings became. Even now, mid-Bug Buzz, she could see individual peaks and troughs. When she rode like this in Hoenn, all she could see was a soup of the colors of her surroundings with a green tint over it. She even saw her own reflection in one of the larger eyeballs, a clean view of her white knuckles grabbing the dragon's wing as it mercilessly buzzed her.

Was this what riding the full speed of Sandy's vibrating wing looked like in slow motion? She didn't look graceful. She looked terrified.

"Make it go away, Sandy! BOOMBURST!"

At Shalin's command, the insectile dragon's wings roared, flapping so fast that even in the Ultra Sea's slow motion, she began to blur once more. The field of shadows and eyes were no more than a soup of purples, reds, and whites. It was the greatest thrill any of her Pokémon could offer: a ride on wings vibrating so rapidly that their wingtips produced sonic booms. Anywhere else, she would be the happiest Ranger on the planet, an unparalleled adrenaline rush surging through her. Here, though, it was out of fear. Fear of seeing the horrible images Elaine Highland had witnessed.

The SHADOW CHILL radiated outward from the Inteleon, grazing the Flygon with the hatred of a Shadow Pokémon. The clashing energies ate at one another, Sandy screeching as the shadow move overwhelmed the flow of Infinity Energy between her and her rider. Shalin felt the Crystabloom within her suit burning like she had never experience before. Steaming visibly, it did not take long for it to completely overheat, the energy flow between them ceasing abruptly.

Shalin went flying up the trench from being launched off the wing, yelling and writhing in pain from how much the vibration hurt unprotected.

ULTRA DEEP SEA: SE

1st Expedition

It had vanished. It was not all entirely gone, however. Just a part of the scenery had vanished. It was like someone had punched a hole out from underneath it.

The lighting from Shalin's suit had vanished. Shalin had flown back.

But it was still there.

Chandeliers.

Candlesticks.

Machetes.

All pointed at her.

Only a few had vanished. So, Elaine had to bury them all here.

The beam from the Shadow Chill continued to persist. "NOW TURN IT AROUND!"

Using the properties of the beam, she could simply swing it around. If hitting the weird eyes watching were enough to erase them, then she just needed to do the honors of erasing everything.

It would be like scrubbing across it all with an eraser.

At least, that was probably the logic behind that thought. However, given her state, it was unclear whether any of that logic had even been consciously processed by her.

After all, such an attack was absurdly ineffiecnt.

But venting pure, unabashed aggression and rage was never something that could be caught within the domain of rationality.

---

TL;DR:

• Inteleon swings the Shadow Chill to continue to erase the hallucination bit by bit
• Elaine continues to maintain her aggressive state from the neurotoxin

Tags: Shalin Nariya

Without the protection of her suit, it only took a split second for her to be launched from the wing. Was this what it was like for others when she let them go for a ride on Treble at his lowest intensity? Her head and major joints all ached from being thrown up and down dozens of times in the split second between her suit malfunctioning and being catapulted into the aether composing the liquid-gas hybrid environment.

With no one to support her, Shalin reached her peak and began to free fall. Slowly, but she was still falling toward the darkness. The only other things giving off light were the hallucinations made real, as well as Inteleon's SHADOW CHILL. Catching a glimpse of where Elaine Highland was at, she dove for her, arms outstretched, in an effort to tackle her and snap her out of her trance. Successful or not, she was too tired to speak loudly; with her usual protections gone, she would start to succumb to the toxic environment if she remained her too muck longer.

Were she able to knock Elaine back to her senses, she would rasp, "Elaine... we have to go... now..."

ULTRA DEEP SEA: SE

1st Expedition

"What...was I doing?"

The next thing Elaine knew, she was laying on the ground on her back. She had been knocked from her position from before, but what had happened in the last few minutes had all been a blur. She remembered the footsteps and she remembered the eyes.

But now Lockon was standing at their side and Shalin had knocked her to the ground, her hands clenching onto the collar of Elaine's clothes.

"It's all gone..."

That was all she could muster to say as she took many shallow breaths. Her fingers and toes twitched as she felt herself regaining control of the rest of her body.

"A hallucination..."

Given Shalin's current condition, the fact that all light had vanished, and the fact that she was lying on the ground like this, she could only imagine what she had done. As she grabbed her Pokeball, she recalled the aggressive reptile.

"I'm sorry."

The brief enough contact with the neurotoxin had caused that much of an effect. She was lucky that it was only brief contact. Whatever she had taken must have been metabolized by this point.

"Yeah, you're right. We have to go now." Taking the last few deep breaths she needed, she steadied her breathing and stood up. Her legs were shaky, but she was still good to keep moving. After all, they had to choice but to move forward.

"I'm guessing we have no light left at this point? If so, I may have an idea."

---

TL;DR:

• Elaine brought back to her senses, recalls Inteleon, apologizes
• Lead-in to special prompt: ELAINE HIGHLAND's skills as a sleuth must be critical to the success of the expedition.

Tags: Shalin Nariya