It was time for Shalin to stop putting it off. If she wanted to grow stronger, she needed not only the battle experience to defend Petalburg, but the tools to do so. Josh Devlin had once shared with her the existence of a fantastic "water temple" in the depths of the SEAFLOOR CAVERN. Filled with treasure of a bygone age, he and Navy had cleared only the front half of it out. The back half remained untouched, and who better than one of Hoenn's greatest explorers, Shalin Nariya , to document and plunder its dangerous, labyrinthine tunnels!

Shalin, too, was taken by surprise to another Milotic ferrying the female closer to such dangers. "Could say much the same of you," the Captain replied as Levy's tail surfaced with the girl sitting on it. Most rode a Milotic just behind the neck -- wasn't sitting on the serpentine's Pokémon tiring best case, dangerous worst case?

The diving bubbles between the two Milotic were all that let Allegra and Shalin communicate underwater. Shalin swayed back and forth with Levy's tail as the water-type swam in place. "I've heard a lot of stories about them, but this is my first time coming down here myself," the girl admitted. "Captain Shalin Nariya, Petalburg, and these two are Levy and Shabraz," she gave the Milotic a pat before gesturing toward the Sharpedo swimming behind her. Both wore saddles, but the Milotic's was vacant from the Ranger sitting on the tail.

Was she some kind of crazy thrill seeker? The muscles powering that tail were very strong, and could easily fling an inexperienced trainer off. The bent her Sygna Suit gave her was made her one heck of a wildcard.

"I'm actually here because a cache of Sharpedonite was discovered inside ancient ruins deep within the Seafloor Cavern last year. Supposedly the back half's unexplored. You with me?" Little did she realize how dangerous the aquatic ruins would be...!

The shark's demeanor was calm, unlike most of her kind: a sign that she was well-behaved. It was wondrous what Captains could do with Pokémon known for being predators. "I am!" she chirped back. "I get a lot of questions about it; before I was a captain, I used to call myself Hoenn's wildest Pokémon rider!" The Milotic thrust Shalin with a powerful swish of his tail to demonstrate, the green-ette looking as talented as a cowgirl at a Unovan rodeo.

"Great to meet you too, Allegra," she continued, Shabraz swimming next to Shalin and making a circle around Allegra. "I have a lot of respect for coordinators. The only type of Pokémon Contest I've ever entered was a Pokémon race, at the Mauville Leader's request. The kid who leads that Gym is an animal. I don't know how he does it."

The veteran explorer didn't seem concerned by the size of the party at all. "Remember, we're not just two people. We're two people and our Pokémon. Let's head on in!" Leading the way through the tunnel, a grin on her face as Levy's tail swished her about, the two surfaced inside the ruin. The biggest feature that jumped out at Shalin was how large it was: a central tower three stories high, surrounded by doors, tunnels, and other entrances on all four sides. Terastal, sapphire-like gemstones emitted a blue light that made it possible to see without that of a flashlight or Pokémon.

"Thankfully, the Rangers provided me with a map of the known part of this place. That way, we shouldn't get too lost until we head for the unknown parts. They said we might need some fast water Pokémon to navigate the place, too."

Everyone had their talents. Shalin's was in befriending Pokémon, sometimes in unusual ways. Several of her Pokémon she had caught by ambushing them from above, mounting them while still wild, and fighting to wear them out. Many wild Pokémon respected the strength of trainers who could tussle with them -- even predators like Sharpedo. She still remembered the sting of Shabraz trying to buck her off. And now the Sharpedo was one of her main aquatic Pokémon. "So Mauville Gym is run by my friend from Johto, Josh Devlin . We moved to Hoenn together about two years ago. He has a talent for riding Pokémon, too, but we couldn't be more different. He loves going fast. Really fast. Race car fast. That's what his Gym is all about, too. I tried taking his challenge once, and I couldn't even take it. I got dizzy after the first lap around one of his tracks." It didn't help that the race was Iron Leaves versus Iron Boulder, Josh about to much better handle the paradox Sword's hoof thrusters much better than she could.

Though Shalin only had six Pokémon with her, Allegra had a team of her own. That was more than enough to keep them safe in the Captain's eyes. Though she didn't have a physical map, and the duo were too far underground to get cell phone signal, running her phone in local mode let her view it without being connected to RangerNet. "Ranger technology is something else," she mused as she showed her companion the map of the four-level ruins. It seemed the only parts that hadn't been cleaned out were to the north. Withdrawing her Milotic and Sharpedo, Shalin released the second one on dry land. Mounting it at an awkward angle, Shabraz made a single flailing motion to express her discomfort and need to get back underwater.

"I'm sure we'll find out," Shalin smiled, gesturing toward the water's surface one story beneath them. "Ready to dive?" It was more a warning than a question, an AQUA JET from the dark-type's rear sending the Captain over the precipice and splashing into the water ten feet below.