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The prompt takes Lutgarde a bit by surprise, who has fully expected to end up in some kind of life-or-death situation again. However, this ... that's actually kind of nice. "So the crystals can also manifest in a, uh ... less threatening way," they comment, looking at the crystal in the middle of the room. "An ideal gym, huh?" they wonder, looking at Shalin. "Do you have any ideas?"

They haven't really thought about it, but their surroundings seem to flash a few visions already, before fading into the default white nothingness as nothing really sticks: a literal gym, wide open field, some farmland, before wood surrounds them to form a shed, and then back into a city, amongst the streets and yet somehow isolated enough for a battle. And then, white.

"Woah, I didn't expect it to adapt ideas so quickly."

Shalin Nariya

It was relaxing, for a change, for the Tera Crystals inside the RKS Simulation to manifest in this way. A way that was less serious, and more where the duo could let their imaginations run wild. "I couldn't be a Gym Leader," Shalin admitted to Lutgarde as her Type: Null mount paced about the white space before them. "Too much like running a business. I'm not detail-oriented enough. But if I was..."

The gears began to turn. Once, inside the RKS Simulation, she had designed a Gym around exploration. Another time, a rodeo. This time, she had a much better, more applicable idea. "What about a Gym around the energies that fuel apex Pokémon's forms?" It was a special place where trainers could get their feet wet with Mega Evolution, a Sygna Suit, and the like, without having to own one. "Imagine being able to try a Sygna Suit before buying one!"

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At Shalin's confession, Lutgarde laughs in agreement and raises their first for a fist bump. "Big same, honestly," they admit as well, nodding. "It seems fun, but I wouldn't envy whoever had to keep track of my schedule. I think the battling's and challenging's fun, though." Curiously enough, Gym Leader truly has never been any consideration at all, even for their starry-eyed younger self.

Well, it's been hard for them to even connect with any pokémon enough for their team to grow until recently, or maybe they made it hard on themself - any level that wasn't the same as with Sylv and Sylph just seemed off.

"That would be pretty dope," Lutgarde grins, jumping onto Shalin's idea. Another thing they hadn't considered much before Hoenn, frankly. "I think Mega Stones might be easy, but Sygna Suits ... well, hey, it's our fantasy," they laugh, as something like a walk-in wardrobe comes to life. Colourful suits are lined up, as well as accessories for Dynamax, Mega ... "The Battlefield's gonna be a soccer field, too, to accomodate the Dynamax."

Shalin Nariya

As their imaginations took shape, within the wardrobe appeared several Sygna Suits, most notably replicas of the ones Shalin wore. The first was Flygon-themed, covered in red and green scales, and it came with red-tinted glasses to mimic the desert dragon's eye shields. The second was Venusaur-themed, looking much more primitive, its top wrapped with vines and petals in the grass-type's likeness. It even came with a small crown on the headpiece.

"Hey, these look just like mine!" Shalin smiled. "If you're feeling a bit... courageous, you might be able to get a feel for what my suit's like!" That smile grew as she reached for the Poké Balls containing her Sygna Pokémon. "It's almost like... almost like being a Pokémon. Kind of."

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There's a variety of outfits and suits presented, but the familiar ones are the ones that do seem to be the most interesting. "Be a pokémon, huh?" they wonder with a grin, looking down at Sylv who gives a coo in reply. "Well, I'm really curious about that Venusaur suit of yours," they say, picking the suit from the wardrobe which takes a more and more solid shape.

"Hope you don't mind, buddy?" they ask Sylv with a playful smile, but already know the answer - he doesn't. He'd only be royally pissed if they'd ever decide to get a second Sylveon because how dare they. But, gladly, that's not a consideration Lutgarde has. "Hmm, but we still gotta come up with a battle field ..." they ponder as the suit just magically appears on their body, fitted to their size as well.

"And, how do I look?" With a little wink of their imagination, a bow still appears next to the little crown of the suit. Gotta keep in theme for them, too!

Shalin Nariya

"Oh, you'll get to see it, hee hee!" Shalin squealed, donning the Venusaur suit and clicking the Poké Ball containing her Venusaur that was one and a half stories high. With a bellow that might have made Lutgarde flinch, she greeted them both, slowly extending her vines each toward the two Sygna Suited trainers. "Oh, Saria herself will be the battleground! You'll see."

With a giddy, mischievous look on her face, Shalin slid down from Lathiel before gently patting the end of the thick vine before straddling it and sitting on it, much like one would mount a Pokémon. "Hop on her other vine like this, and you'll get to see just what the Venusaur suit is capable of!" she goaded Lutgarde, the Captain glowing a faint green from the Infinity Energy keeping her seated on the whip-shaped appendage.

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Lutgarde grins at Shalin's enthusiasm, "Oh, now that's interesting indeed." At least this time when a pokémon is the battleground, they're not caught in its innards ... ... they still shudder ever so slightly at the memory of the giant. They follow Shalin's instructions and get seated on Saria's other vine, smiling, "Hey there! Please take it easy at first, okay?"

It's strange to feel the Infinity Energy here. Even in this simulation, it almost feels real - there's just a nudge missing, they feel, that is the faintest reminder of oh, this isn't real. Saria would first start with some gentle whirls, before going faster and faster. Quite the sensation of feeling like almost losing it, being flung freestyle through the air, and still having and knowing the solid support of the vine still.

"Alright- Let's see what you got!" the ranger dares after a while then, and the Venusaur happily obliges.

Crack!

Protected by the suit, the sheer speed and acceleration is still bordering a lot on too much, with Lutgarde still being fully stunned from that first experience. "Oh damn," they only figure out after a solid minute or so, wide-eyed. "That was ... damn."

Shalin Nariya

To anyone not familiar with how physics-defying well-honed skills with Infinity Energy could be, being a passenger on Saria's cracking vine looked unimaginably, unbearably painful. The bright spikes of energy protected the two from being crushed by the blink-of-an-eye acceleration. The riders were flung in a circle so fast that by the time their brains could "render" the next image of their vision, they had already completed a full revolution. It was unlike anything almost any other Pokémon could offer; the only other one she could think of was the Ultra Beast Xurkitree, and without the ability to sync with the electric alien, such a run would be dangerous even for her.

"Isn't it?!" Shalin huffed, also worn down by the brief but intense Infinity Energy expenditure. "For what it's worth, your reaction was about the same as mind my first time I did this, too. Certainly gives you an appreciation for the speed and power of a Vine Whip, huh?"

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Lutgarde's mind is still recovering from the speed and intensity of the Vine Whip, but slowly regains their composure and laughs, maybe a solid half a minute. "Yeah, yeah," they laugh still, before taking a deep exhale. "Woah, that was wild indeed. Thanks for letting me experience that," they smile, both looking at Shalin while patting Saria's vine.

However, all this quickly shifts as the inspector comes by - here in the form of Dahlia Goode, someone Lutgarde has not met before. The inspection itself seems to pass dream-like, leading to an equally surreal ending in the form of a confetti balloon. "Yeay! We did it!" they grin and lift their hands for a double high-five with Shalin, before ... they look past her.

"Uhm, is this ... that's ...? A power spot right? Where's the crystal- or is that a sign to move?"

Shalin Nariya

As winded as Lutgarde looked, they seemed to enjoy being flailed about at speeds too fast to comprehend. The inspectors seemed impressed, too, giving Shalin a stack of paperwork to sign and make her an official Gym Leader. She lifted her hands to allow them to complete the double high-five.

"And if you ever want to experience the other half of the suit, we can always come back here!" she offered, suddenly looking dressed like a Flygon instead. Swapping to her other Sygna Pokémon, she casually sat on the dragon's wing like one would a ride Pokémon, as if to tease her.

The POWER SPOT made Shalin uneasy, its presence causing her Pokémon to grow to enormous sizes and leave Shalin stranded on the now-gigantic wing... that seemed to be able to lift her even without her Sygna Suit active. "Sandy? Can you let me down? Gently?" she kindly asked the Dynamaxed Flygon as the scene faded to white...

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"That's a deal," Lutgarde grins at Shalin's offer, still perplexed at the sight of it - after all, a Beedrill's wing is only that strong, despite also being incredibly strong ... wonders of nature, or something like this. Their mind doesn't linger too much on that topic, being exceptionally good at accepting things just for what they are, as first the Tera Crystal shifts to a Power Spot and then the whole scenario shifts to a ... darker scenario.

Slateport is under invasion. Swarms of Rocket terrorise the city, rendering its buildings to debris and slaughtering its inhabitants. Lutgarde immediately tenses, looks at Shalin as the Slateport they did not know - only having ever gone to the city after the invasion, after the rebuilding - is under attack.

"We'll fight, right?"

Shalin Nariya
choice fight or survive?