Were Makoto and their Pokémon to keep wandering eastward, they would stumble into a steep hill that looked oddly suspicious. Where one would think the high peaks of the Rusturf Mountain Range rose to the heavens, they stopped short. Before them would be a well-kept grassy plateau, saddled Pokémon roaming all over. There had to be dozens of them, and many were unusual for their size.

Were Makoto Kurumi to sate their curiosity, they would find a myriad of familiar Pokémon: a Shiny Beedrill, a Venusaur, a Flygon, and several others. The Beedrill's size and Shiny colors were a strong indicator of who owned the Pokémon: none other than Captain Shalin Nariya . A distant but perhaps familiar scream would soon follow. What nonsense was the eccentric girl up to?

As Makoto stumbled across the grassy expanse, it would be Zing that stood out to them - perhaps the one pokemon that was even vaguely familiar to them. So, too, was the voice - distant screams, that prompted a somewhat alarmed blink from them! Oh, Arceus - what was going on over there?

Kama certainly seemed curious, the Sneasler trotting on ahead with a friendly chitter and wave to the pokemon. Makoto would be not far behind - nor would the felines, even if Espian and Suede watched the menagerie around them with a hint of caution, for differing reasons.

Shalin Nariya

Almost on cue with the scream, Sandy's body began to glow green with Infinity Energy. Were Makoto Kurumi 's eyes to shift toward the source of the noise, they would see a similar glow surrounding the tail of one of the largest Arbok they had likely seen. The giant, purple snake was Gyarados-sized, his tongue flicking about just as wildly as the tail was. Clinging to its rattling end was Petalburg's Ranger Captain, who finally got a chance to exhale once the rattling noise stopped.

"That's... really fast!" the Sygna Suited green-ette panted, unable to keep a single part of her body steady after the fast but otherwise light shaking rocked her. "I'll need to figure out a new move to teach you so we can take advantage of a tail like that!"

Makoto was not sure what they expected to find - but they would be caught off guard as the nearby Flygon began to glow. And seeing Shalin being swung about by the end of an Arbok's tail was not any less of a surprise, either!

They couldn't help but blink a bit owlishly as they watched the display - and the pokemon were similarly surprised. Just what was she doing..?

At the very least, it seemed as though she was okay - even if on shaky legs - after the whole experience... Though Makoto could never even dream of doing much the same. That was just a bit too much excitement for them when half the things that went on in Hoenn was excitement enough for a lifetime!

Shalin Nariya

Serena heard Shalin's call, the saddled Persian bounding toward her trainer. The big cat's eyes widened when she saw her clinging to the venomous snake's rattle. Though she was familiar with the suit Shalin wore, she always grew worried every time her partner tried something new and reckless like that. Letting go of the rattle, she slid down from Rumble's tail, landing on her rump when het legs could not hold her.

The Persian began to lick and kiss the Captain repeatedly, getting a laugh out of her. "Serena, it's okay! I'm fine!" the suit-wearing girl insisted before her eyes caught the purple-haired onlooker in her peripheral. "Oh, hello there!" she weakly waved to Makoto Kurumi in her dizziness, Persian slobber dripping from her cheek.

The large Persian - Serena - grabbed the attention of the felines. Suede had a passing curiosity - even if he was wary of the stranger, Tora would give a brief glance - before deciding he was indifferent to the matter, though Espian seemed more disapproving of the other unknown feline's presence - glancing away with the feline equivalent to a 'tch'.

Makoto, though, couldn't help a soft chuckle at the behavior; the Persian seemed to clearly care about her trainer, if the fussing and grooming was of any indication. What a good kitty.

"Hello. I, uhm, believe we fought during that one Vital tournament?" Makoto spoke, giving Shalin a wave from. "Shalin, right? I'm Makoto."

Shalin Nariya

Now that Makoto mentioned their name, Shalin perked up some, remembering the name and face from the tournament. "Right, that was so long ago," she dizzily remarked before crawling to take a sitting position. She still looked worn out from the wild ride her Arbok gave her. Serena at last stopped licking her so she could introduce herself to Tora and Espian, gushing about how talented her trainer was.

"What you been up to all this time?" she asked. "Sorry if Rumble scared you. He's one of my newer teammates." Though fierce-looking, the poison-type seemed friendly enough. As if to show off, he rattled his tail for a second or two. How did she not instantly faint from motion like that?

Espian didn't seem the most receptive to Serena's approach, giving a low growl that could translate as 'stay out of my personal space', as he slunk off to the opposite side of Yurei.

Tora, however, was a bit more interested - even if clearly lazy - as he hopped down from Yurei's back to listen to Serena's gushing. Suede, too, would listen in - even if he was a bit on the shyer side, keeping a bit of distance.

Kama would actively engage Serena in conversation though, the Sneasler chittering and gesturing animatedly amidst the talk.

Makoto watched the pokemon for a few moments, just to make sure that everyone wasn't getting too agitated, before they'd slide down from Yurei's back to sit with Shalin. "Not much, just... Business as usual, really. The weather seemed nice, so I, uhm, wanted to take some of my pokemon out for an outing through the woods." They spoke, adding "Suede - my Kantonian Persian over there - might be shy, but he uh, can be the troublemaker type of bored if I don't give him outlets like this."

Last thing they wanted was to wake up to him digging through the garbage in the middle of the night.

Shalin Nariya

The three Persian and Perrserker couldn't have been more different; Serena distanced herself from Espian out of respect, though she continued to share stories of Shalin and some of her newer Pokémon. The Ranger had a huge menagerie that all seemed so self-sufficient.

"Sounds like he'd be right at home with some of my team, heh!" the Captain replied with a single laugh, some of her Shiny Eeveelutions. Tinder and Dolana came to mind, the Shiny Flareon and Umbreon seemingly always looking for trouble when the eight were together. "You're pretty intrepid to stumble into my abode! It's not easy to get to." Being nestled between some rough terrain in Petalburg Woods on the west side and the Rusturf Mountain Range on the east, the only indicator of it being her home were all the Pokémon that roamed the grounds... particularly ones that did not make their habitat in forests.

Shalin at last got to her feet as Rielle splashed out of the small lake nearby, the Shiny Vaporeon enjoying a swim alongside some of her other water-types. It was getting close to the point where Shalin would have to withdraw them all and put them in Storage for the winter. Kyurem's presence was such a thorn in her side, having to sleep near her fire Pokémon at times during the winter. "Mostly just been dealing with the transition. ollie morales moved me from Rustboro to Petalburg, and it's been a handful."

At Shalin's comment, Makoto couldn't help a soft laugh of their own. "Maybe... Although I've noticed that you, uhm, tend to surround yourself with larger pokemon." They commented with a humorous hue. Suede, though he wasn't a runt, was a bit on the smaller and lithe side compared to his peers. There was no chance he'd be able to carry anything or anyone remotely human-scale.

The question of Makoto having found this place, too, was met with a somewhat bashful smile. "Ah... I was mostly just following wherever Suede and Kama wanted to go." The former's curiosity and the latter's enthusiasm did well to spur any exploration onwards, really. Even if Suede could be quite timid at the same time, with his tendencies to spook at unexpected noises or strangers.

However, the mention of Ollie - and by extension, a move - was a curious one. They'd known that Shalin was a Ranger captain, the uniform and simply keeping one's ears out for any chatter related to League business made it no secret, not that it was a secret to begin with. But getting some insight from the Captain herself proved to be a curiosity to Makoto. "A move?" They asked promptingly, adding "What's the transition been like?"

Shalin Nariya

Shalin's Pokémon choice were deliberate. While she had a lot of similarities with Mauville's Gym Leader, the way she went about using that talent sported enormous differences. "Yup, it's because I really enjoy riding Pokémon! Especially if it's of a species not typically used for it. If you take a look around, you might see some more of them!" Persian was one such species; they were fickle as they were. Convincing one large enough to wear a saddle to do so had to be incredibly challenging, and yet, there Serena was. How much did Shalin have to pamper her to get her to agree to that?

Shalin stood up and cuddled faces with her Persian, the large cat letting out a cute, almost alluring meow. "Such a good girl..." she mused before the normal-type sat down and stretched. "The transition's mostly been smooth, but it's kept me busy. Making sure I have all my paperwork out of Rustboro's systems before getting transferred, moving office stuff, making sure the new information is current with the League, and what not. Then I'll have to get up to speed with Petalburg's goings-on and get familiar with the city's layout. It's a lot of work." Petalburg was also not small; it and Rustboro often traded places for the largest city in western Hoenn.

"I saw that," Makoto nodded, reaching over to idly scritch Tora on the head - to which the Perrserker softly purred. There was a veritable menagerie here, and it was safe to say that a lot of these pokemon would make odd or otherwise wild steeds. Really though, it was the variety that really stood out to Makoto.

The talk of Ranger business though, Makoto nodded along to as Shalin spoke. "Definitely sounds like there's a lot going on... But at least Petalburg ain't much further from here than Rustboro is, right?" They mused out loud, adding "Petalburg seems pretty cozy, from the times I've gone through there, too. I, uhm, don't imagine adjusting will be too bad."

Given Shalin's lifestyle, they felt as though she'd be more at home in Petalburg than in Rustboro; it was the 'city where people mingle with nature' or whatever, wasn't it?

Shalin Nariya

Though their responsibilities weren't as broad as Gym Leaders, Captains still had quite a few municipial-level civic duties. Those duties were the biggest issue preventing her from going out to Hoenn's ruins like she used to. She missed venturing into the unknown; now, she needed an excuse to take several Rangers to such a site for it to be considered within the scope of her job.

"It's about the same distance the other way," Shalin clarified. "And it being closer to the sea means I can get all my swimming Pokémon into open waters more easily. The lake may seem big, but for larger Pokémon, it's not." Particularly not for ones as large as Levy, her Milotic and one of her favorite aquatic Pokémon. "You are right, though; it's more sprawling than Rustboro and not as densely populated. It should be a better place for me long-term."