Shalin's team was tired from having made egg deliveries between Fallarbor and Lavaridge in the wake of the eruption. Even Sandy had reached her limits, the Flygon unable to ferry her home to Petalburg Woods. With all of her flying Pokémon out of commission, she had little choice but to seek lodging in Mauville. It wouldn't be cheap, but she knew the city almost as well as the Gym Leader from having spent so much time with him. She knew where the deals were.

When a stranger called out to her and waved to her, Shalin tugged on the poison-type's reins, Kiku sliding to a stop and rearing before standing on all fours again. He snorted upon hearing Sevastian address him. "He'll be okay! Kiku and I do this pretty often!" Shalin chirped back. "Skuntank get a bad rap, but they're so nice when you get to know them. They're great runners, too! Did you know they can be caught to use Flamethrower like a fire-type Pokémon?"

he couldn’t help but crack a smile at the woman lecturing him on facts surrounding a dark type in any nature, but not everyone is bound to know another's story.

“That’s a very interesting point. I’ve heard about the Flamethrower thing before, it’s a very unique trait for a poison type to be able to do naturally.”

the Mightyena and Mabosstiff come to sit on either side of himself, quiet observing as Sevastian continued on.

this could be interesting. lets see how far we can go.

“When you say good runners, do you mean this with or without you on-board? I imagine with the added weight of a person it has to impede their speed, no?”

Shalin Nariya

The smile on Shalin's face grew as Sevastian seemed to take interest in Kiku. "Yep! They do it by burning off their excess musk. That's how they get to their top speed!" she bragged. It was such a thrill, and getting rid of most of their musk made them a lot more acceptable to run around cities with.

For most Skuntank, it would; the species was normally too small to carry a human on their back. Kiku was big, though; with the influx of Space-Time Distortions into Hoenn, large Pokémon were becoming more commonplace. "I don't slow him down as much as you'd think! You have a Pokémon you can go for a run with? I can show you if you want!" Before she got too much farther, she realized she hadn't introduced herself! "Captain Shalin Nariya - great to meet you!"

he makes a mental note of something he’s never known before and it quickly falls to the back of his mind.

where were his manners? to flag someone down and not even introduce himself! that’s low Sevvy, low indeed.

“Sevastain Beau wit-” he cuts himself off before he gets into his spiel. “Sevastian Beau, nice to meet you as well.”

adjusting his bag, he looks back to the city and points with his thumb.

“I can go rent a ride pokemon real quick.” he had passed by the stables earlier and there seemed to be a Zebstrika that was ready to take off the first chance it got, surely that would be a good pokemon to test out against a Skuntank.

Shalin Nariya

Sevastian was not a name Shalin had heard before. His manners made him seem trustworthy enough. Plus, some of her other Pokémon needed time away from Petalburg, too. Clicking open a second Poké Ball, from it would emerge an Espathra whose neck craned toward the white-haired man. "No need! Long as you're comfortable with Schala here, she'll be plenty fast to keep up with Kiku!"

Without a ride Pokémon of his own, though, the Ranger didn't want to strand Sevastian far away from town. Perhaps a destination would be good to know. "Where you headed? Lavaridge?" she asked, Kiku stepping away from the mild psychic sphere the Espathra was producing.

holding out a hand, he allows the Espathra to lower its head to his own height before he got onto the pokemon.

“I was planning on just letting my girls stretch their legs.” nodding his head down to the Mabosstiff and Mightyena, they look up patiently, waiting for the walk to begin.

“I’d like to keep asking you questions if you don’t mind.”

as they start, he allows the Espathra to keep pace, the two dogs easily keeping up with whatever speed is set.

speaking over the gallops and allowing himself to properly move with the flow of the bumps, Sevastian begins to inquire into Shalin.

“How did you come across your abnormally large Skuntank? Usually the average height for them is around three feet tall. Yours is I’d say… five foot ten?”

Shalin Nariya

The pace the two dark-types kept was easily one Kiku and Schala could keep up with, the Espathra used to going far slower than she was capable of. Of all the things Shalin could handle while in the saddle, extreme raw speed was not one of them. The last time she pushed Schala to her top speed, the Captain passed out in the middle of the run; thankfully, Espathra were psychic-types and could use their minds to prevent their riders from falling off. Schala would do the same for Sevastian, gently aiding him with his balance unless he objected.

"Large Pokémon like this aren't exactly common, but they've started showing up in greater numbers in Hoenn since Space-Time Distortions started popping up," Shalin explained as Kiku pranced through the prairie. "There's these... really big, red-eyed Pokémon. They vary from species to species, but most of them are roughly double the size you'd expect. They lose those red eyes when caught, but they're still big. And usually more aggressive than most Pokémon of their kind." In a time long past, they would have been called Alpha Pokémon. That apex status had been lost from being dragged through time, but to Shalin, it was the great size that mattered. "I've tracked down... a lot of Pokémon from the distortions, and even actively chase them. They can last anywhere from a few minutes to a few days."

while Psychic types were not his specialty, he was aware of the keen mental links they could form with others. where the Espathra assisted, he allowed, assuming it knew better than himself, especially where it concerned how she was to be ridden.

“Interesting.” he says quietly, overshadowed by the thumping of claw and paw; but then he speaks louder, more pronounced.

“So you’ve decided to take it upon yourself to quell these pokemon? How many have you satiated up to this point? And as a follow up, how many of them have you caught?”

settling into the psychic type, he mouthed a, “Thank you.” as it righted him before he had the chance to do it himself.

Shalin Nariya

Were Sevastian to struggle with maintaining physical control with the reins, Schala would kindly take over piloting duties by reading his mind if he were to allow it. "They're... very dangerous in the wild - they're Pokémon that will attack people. These giant Pokémon are the apex of what their species is capable of, too. Thankfully, they remain within the confines of the distortion until they're captured."

As the psychic bird accelerated some, Shalin felt Kiku's muscles tense, like he would release a gout of fire from his tail at any moment. "Dozens of them, on all accounts," the Captain answered. "The crown jewels of my bunt are easily my eight Shiny Eeveelutions, all of which are big enough to ride. But yes, I've caught many Pokémon out of them."

she avoided the question, though it was mainly one poised as an ice breaker in the first place. still, he couldn’t help but continue to pry, if only to measure her worth in his own eyes.

“How do you go about it?” getting the hang of the ride came somewhat natural, but he could not tell if it was just because of the connection the Espathra pushed onto him or not. in any case…

“You said you’re a Captain. Are you a Captain of the rangers or is that just a title within the League’s rankings?”

the pace of the dogs slowed as they fell in line with the others behind them, taking up either end of the rally; the Mightyena next to Shalin and the Mabosstiff next to Sevastian.

“I ask because I know that Rangers are more on the side of assisting pokemon while the League are more inclined to just keeping the peace.” - in whatever way best suits them.

Shalin Nariya

While Shalin avoided the question. it was not by intent; she had simply glossed over that one detail. She was impressed with how well Sevastian was controlling Schala, though she could not tell how much of it was his skill and how much was the Espathra keeping him balanced. "Most of it just hunting down the Distortions themselves. They're closely monitored by the League. Other than that, it's just like catching and raising a Pokémon that can be a little more on the difficult side."

"Captain of the Rustboro Rangers, that's correct!" Shalin confirmed as the two continued, the girl reining Kiku in every time he tried to pick up the pace to something she felt Sevastian would be uncomfortable with. "You are right; it's specifically Law Enforcement that's responsible for keeping the peace," she clarified. "Rangers are responsible for wilderness operations, disaster relief, and the like. About the only combat we see is when we handle poachers, and that's usually in tandem with Law Enforcement." She tried to avoid taking those kinds of tickets if possible; Nature was a fierce enough opponent without a nasty human trying to take her down, too.

Shalin had to tug back on Kiku a third time. "Easy, Kiku!" she quipped before tilting her head toward Sevastian. "You think you can handle going faster? I think Kiku here wants to pick up the pace."

“…” silence is kept as he muses to himself, vision skewed due to looking at her from the side of his eyes.

when her own question was poised he looked to the Mabosstiff at his side, the pokemon trotting alongside happily.

“Sure.” he states with a small smile as he snapped twice in succession, signaling for the dogs to anticipate the change in pace.

Shalin Nariya

Shalin was only confident in Sevastian by virtue of Schala keeping a psychic hold on him. Who knew, though! Maybe he would have a lot of fun with the great speeds the poison-type and psychic-type could reach when they used their special techniques. "Alright, hold on tight! Kiku, use your FLAMETHROWER!"

Shalin let go of the Skuntank's tail, letting him point it directly behind him. Squinting as he pushed musk toward the center of his tail, flames raced out the tip of it, affording him speed that those not familiar with the species may have been mindblown by. "Yeeeeeee-haaaaaaa!!!" the Captain whooped as her mount turned his normally unbearably smelly musk into propellant that was nowhere near as repulsive.

Schala at first had trouble keeping up with the Skuntank. Her SPEED BOOST kicked in, keeping Kiku in sight and eventually catching up to him. The psychic bird's hold was tight but not uncomfortably so, keeping Sevastian upright enough to be able to see, but not so much that the wind would ravage his face.