What a first major operation to be thrown into after being transferred to Petalburg. While it was unclear which city was larger, Petalburg was in a much more strategic location, being the closest major city to Hoenn's rural southwest. Controlling Petalburg would be effectively controlling those cities. The pressure was on, and the Sygna Suited green-ette would rise to the occasion.

Once terrified of the sound of buzzing wings, the townsfolk would come to appreciate it, as it was a sign of the Captain patrolling or otherwise assisting them. The city's north gate had been set alight by Kantonian Rocket agents, and if she wasn't quick to respond, the fires would spread to Petalburg Woods -- and her sanctuary, the Romping Grounds.

Despite the dangers of fire, the Captain utilized Queen Zing, her Beedrill, to repel Team Rocket. The extremely quick insect was just as brutal as Team Rocket was, stabbing agent after agent with her rear stinger and making them feel like their insides were on fire from the venom.

Sandy, her Flygon, landed next to Shalin, her scales dancing with a faint green aura of Infinity Energy similar to her trainer's suit. She took a seat on the blue-eyed wasp -- and not just anywhere. Through the perfected bond between her and her Flygon, she mounted the menacing-looking Pokémon by the wing: an absurdity that Yamaguchi Himiko may have witnessed.

As she waited for the flow of Infinity Energy to pick up and form a BUG ZONE surrounding her, the Captain placed a call to Petalburg Dispatch. "Dispatch, Captain Nariya. We need Rangers and water Pokémon to put out fires by the north gate. If we don't hurry, they'll spread to Petalburg Woods and burn the whole forest down," she urged, quickly advised that help was on the way.

Sandy squealed upon sighting the fire attack headed in the Shiny Beedrill's direction. That alert was all Queen Zing needed to zip out of the way of the attack headed toward her, the Flygon and synced partner coated in a bright, green light. Shalin was a streak of green atop the Beedrill's droning wing, her sense of touch suppressed from the wasp's powerful vibrations. The sound may well have been deafening for Yamaguchi Himiko , whom Shalin doubted was used to it.

Rather than directly attacking at first, Queen Zing flew back and forth in an effort to buzz the Salandit with her wings reinforced by Sandy and the SYGNA SUIT Shalin wore. A fly-over with the empty wing striking the poison-type might sting quite a bit. The real maneuver the duo were aiming for was to buzz the Salandit with the wing the Captain sat on, turning her own body into a dangerous weapon by virtue of her hanging legs kicking just as rapidly as the wing was vibrating!

Shalin, now a streak of green light atop the Beedrill's wing, was moving too fast to be able to see or hear Yamaguchi Himiko . It may have appeared suicidal to the florist, but that was far from the truth; such was the power of a SYGNA SUIT. It let its wearer do the impossible through the power of a perfected bond with their Pokémon.

Even in her suit, the vibrations were incredibly disorienting, Shalin not even able to feel the venom contact her from below right away. It was only when she felt abrupt changes in her mount's wingbeats that she realized she had been hit. Her entire body felt like jelly as the poison-coated wings had to work harder to keep the duo aloft.

Queen Zing, seeing her new opponent, raised her rear stinger in an effort to stab the Zoroark with it, mistaking the ghost-type for a Unovan Zoroark. Were the FELL STINGER to find purchase, she would churn her wings as fast as she could, her Flygon's BUG ZONE making her mount's wings churn almost overwhelmingly fast.

It wasn't that Shalin wasn't much for conversation; she couldn't hear Yamaguchi Himiko when she was moving too fast to clearly see or be seen. Though the main attack had failed, the Zoroark would be subject to intense, numbing vibrations if they grabbed the stinger.

Even with her Sygna Suit, there was only so long Shalin could endure the fastest vibrations her Beedrill was capable of, as well. She held on as long as she could before the Infinity Energy began to fade, a sign that her suit was reaching the bottom of its metaphorical tank. The wings slowed to a stop, letting Shalin slide down from the one she was seated on... no sooner than the aura of BITTER MALICE striking Queen Zing harshly that snapped her out of her dizziness.

She withdrew the tired Flygon, who had pushed herself to her own limits fueling their team attack. Even with their bond at its peak, working together to unleash some of the loudest and most pounding vibrations Hoenn had ever seen was tiring for both. With her SYGNA SUIT inert, she was vulnerable for a time, as was her Beedrill. The window to act was short; any sort of follow-up attack, whether from the Salandit or the Zoroark, would result in disaster.

The girl reached for her MEGA CIRCLET, both her and her Beedrill glowing with a purple-pink light...

The purple-pink light grew brighter and brighter, Queen Zing absorbing Infinity Energy from Shalin's MEGA CIRCLET into the BEEDRILLITE embedded in her saddle. She would have been invigorated, had Rouge not acted quickly and dissolved the leathers holding the stone fast. As soon as the Salandit removed the Mega Stone, the Mega Evolution process ceased, the Beedrill collapsing in a heap from exhaustion. Onna's SHADOW CLAW would only lengthen the Shiny wasp's Pokémon Center visit. Thankfully, the Zoroark inflicted no lasting injuries.

When Yamaguchi Himiko flaunted the pilfered Mega Stone, Shalin grew furious. Hurling the Poké Balls containing two of her strongest partners, a towering Venusaur and a Type: Null emerged from them. Without hesitation, the Captain sat on the end of one of the grass-type's extended vines, grabbing onto the thick pod at the end of it with both legs and hands. In her recklessness and RAGE, the Venusaur's SYNC STONE glowed a brilliant green. She let out a primal scream as her partner drew the giant vine back.

CRACK!!

The long appendage snapped with sickening force, Shalin moving so fast that her body was as effective of a cutting tool as the POWER WHIP itself was. The air itself shuddered around her, her surroundings turning completely silent as the Venusaur's vine went supersonic for a split second. She didn't aim to cleave the Rocket's arm in two; the precise whip strike aimed to knock the Mega Stone out of her hand.

The full power of Shalin's Sygna Suit wore at even her. Even with the bond with her Venusaur at its peak, Infinity Energy could only do so much against the disorientation from being flicked about at supersonic speed. The Salandit still stood, belching fire in a wide radius toward Shalin and her Sygna Pokémon. Knowing there was little she could do to avoid the burning attack, she did what she could to get her trainer out of the way: whirling the vine Shalin was atop before recklessly flinging its DOUBLE-EDGED pod toward the Salandit in a deafening crack that dorian westcliff easily could have heard.

Saria's SYNC STONE felt like it was burning as much as her leaves were from the Salandit's attack. While suits were designed with harnessing large amounts of Infinity Energy in mind, Shalin's was very spiky in its energy demands. For a split second -- the precise moment of the whipcrack -- the energy consumption rate far exceeded her suit's specifications. She largely understood the circumstances now, which is why she had to make this last flick of the vine count.

Tired from the exertion and burning sensation, Shalin stumbled off the biological whip once it had stopped moving. Her focus remained on the Venusaur, waiting as long as possible to recall the grass-type. For she knew once the Infinity Energy left her, she would not be in very good shape.

Wholly unaware of Yamaguchi Himiko choking on the Mega Stone due to coming down from her Infinity Energy high, it took a howl-roar from Lathiel to snap her back to reality. The Sharpedo had the normal-type in hideous shape post-TAKE DOWN, a bruise forming on her side. Unable to keep her attention on both, and with the flames spreading, Shalin had little choice but to withdraw her Venusaur. With it, the Infinity Energy sustaining her disappeared, her legs buckling as she struggled to remain on her feet. Just as she fell in her dizziness, Lathiel began to glow with a multicolored light, a loud thud echoing from her as the normal-type cast aside her retainer, revealing her true form.



With Lathiel unrestrained, Shalin knew what she needed to do. Producing her ring of SILVALLY MEMORIES, she activated the yellow one of the eighteen, the newly-evolved Silvally biting, raking, and goring toward the Sharpedo in an electrified MULTI-ATTACK.

Just when Shalin thought she would have to dissect the choking Rocket's body to retrieve her Mega Stone, the Zoroark had ejected it back into its ethereal claws. A golden opportunity to retrieve her precious stone, squandered due to her exhaustion from an Infinity Energy overload. Yamaguchi Himiko and her Salandit had disappeared behind a veil of POISON GAS.

Mission accomplished, but at what cost? Queen Zing was in terrible shape, and both of her Sygna Pokémon were exhausted from their exertion against Rocket. She had a legendary ally on her side now, Lathiel triumphantly sending her retainer flying into the woods with a CRUSH CLAW. Worried for her two Sygna Pokémon, Petalburg's Captain climbed aboard Lathiel and sent a radio message to DEREK HOFFMAN . "Derek, Captain Nariya. The northern district's secure for now, but I'm not in good shape. Medical aid is needed. Pokémon with antidotes are ideal, over."

Deafening silence followed. "Derek, Captain Nariya, do you read me? Over." Still silence. "Derek, Captain Nariya--"

Before she could respond, a gigantic earthquake knocked Shalin off her steed, not even Lathiel able to remain on the ground. The shaking earth sent the Silvally flying into a shattering window, glass raining upon her. Blood dripped from her skin in multiple spots. As the earth repeatedly slammed into both of them, the girl reached for Dizzy's Poké Ball in an effort to get airborne with the Starmie, but could not steady her hand enough to press the switch.

BEEDRILLITE STOLEN

Shalin Nariya has lost her BEEDRILLITE. Until she procures a replacement or recovers the original, her BEEDRILL will be unable to MEGA EVOLVE.