Shalin's eyes lit up at Reinier's curious demeanor. "A fellow explorer like myself, are you?" she asked, Lathiel shaking her head. The emotionless Absol reminded her of her Gym Leader friend's, who never showed a shred of emotion. Little did she know the dark-type had a complete personality shift since his ascension to Champion -- and his rebirth as the Knight of Thunder. "There's a lot to learn about Hoenn. You've certainly picked the right--"

Before she could continue, a fish Pokémon she hadn't seen before, and a quick one at that, splashed water all over the Captain and her steed, causing the Type: Null to try to shake the water off. "Hey! Can you let me down before you do that?" she quipped, barely able to keep her balance. Sliding off her Pokémon, she jogged toward the lake the Veluza was leaping out of. If she wanted to catch it, she was going to need to chase it down. And what better Pokémon to give chase than Shabraz? The Sharpedo, when released from her Poké Ball and mounted by her trainer, bucked and flailed with expectations of the act making Shalin happy. "Not now! We gotta chase after that Pokémon!"

The two swift fish may have been tough for Reinier to follow, Shalin a bit scared to fire her mount's AQUA JET. They were already zooming across the waves without it, but they wouldn't make any headway otherwise. With a gulp down her throat, she clutched the Sharpedo's steering fin tightly and gave the order. Opening her jaw as wide as she could, the sea predator shot toward the wild like a cannonball, getting a loud yelp out of her rider.

By the time the Veluza could react, the only attack it could get off fast enough was a PSYCHO CUT. Leaning low on the shark's body, Shalin used Shabraz as a shield to help avoid the powerful attack. Even the Sharpedo was not completely immune from the SHARPNESS of the psychic-type attack, both of them lurching back from their shallow cuts. The Captain, not seeing another chance before she grew too weak on the lake, hurled a Net Ball toward the wild. If it got away, that was okay. If this species could keep up with a Sharpedo effortlessly, she would have some serious training to do before she could effectively saddle up the psychic fish.

Beedrill were some of the most terrifying insects on the planet. With two stings designed to pin and pierce, and a third to inject a deadly dose of venom into its prey, they were some of the most efficient killers in the forest. It was the reason Shalin left the giant, Shiny wasp's saddle on her when she sent Queen Zing off to Lacvaridge. One buzz of her loud wings was all it took for the children to scatter in fright. Even the teachers were taken aback by the enormous, blue-eyed hornet's presence. Who would even sit in that saddle, anyway?

One brave, young girl did, the supervising faculty gasping and reaching for her to try to grab her before Queen Zing took off. With a squeeze from the girl's legs and a playful but firm hold on her reins, the duo buzzed just off the ground. She was constantly giggling while in flight, the vibration tickling her. Queen Zing gave her the illusion of control, listening to her commands some, but staying within the flight patterns Shalin had approved before letting her back onto the ground.

One of the teachers worriedly scooped the young child up after she slid down from the bee big enough for an adult to fly on it. Seeing how true it was that bugs don't bug people unless people bug them first, many of the other students formed a line, ready to get their turn in the air!

The story of Terastal replicas of rare Pokémon appearing within the depths of Area Zero was too enticing for Shalin to resist. She had captured several Pokémon by ambushing them, mounting them, and holding on for dear life as she resisted being flung off their backs. She had once tested that strength against the Chien-Pao of The Border, ultimately coming up short of making the snow cat her own.

She wanted another chance at it.

Seated on her Type: Null, Shalin stared down into the cloud layer keeping Area Zero hidden from all but the most astute vision. "Got a favorite legendary Pokémon?" she casually asked her fellow explorer, Lathiel stepping closer to the edge to get a better look at what was beyond the clouds.

Was it specifically poisonous bugs that were the problem? A lot of the flying insects she loved riding were poisonous: Yanmega was one of the few exceptions, and Flit was very much carnivorous, what with those nasty mandibles that could deliver a mean Bug Bite.

"Not all bugs are poisonous!" she pointed out, withdrawing the Scolipede to make Zachary more comfortable. She noticed the buzzing, flitting Ribombee nearby, at play with him. It didn't seem to be the buzzing that was the problem, as it was for many psychic-type trainers. Was it being stung, especially with a poison sting? That was valid; it was the number one reason for people to be afraid of insects. If only they were bigger. Even out of a Distortion producing one at the maximum size genetically possible, the fairy-type bug was simply too small.

"If it's poison-types, then what about these two?" she asked to get Zachary's attention, withdrawing her team and clicking open two more Poké Balls. From both of them emerged enormous moth Pokémon, one of them white as snow, with cold flakes raining from its wings. From the other, a yellow and white body that glowed bright as a star before turning the light down. "These two are Michiko and Sol," she introduced the Frosmoth and Shiny Volcarona, both also geared up to soar with riders on their backs.

Before Lutgarde Dijkstra and Aubre McKenna-Settentrione could withdraw all of Shalin's Pokémon, the upset Flygon made her last stand. Sandy's wings disappeared into streaks of light as they buzzed faster and faster. Even without her trainer's Sygna Suit augmenting the attack, her wingtips could still reach supersonic speeds, a gigantic shockwave shattering windows close to the top of the building they were in. The whining noise of the wings producing the BOOMBURST was grating, arousing even a weakened Shalin whose head was thumping. "Thank... you..." she gave appreciation for Lutgarde, who carried her away from the disaster.

The trio were able to withdraw all of Shalin's Pokémon not directly helping with the battle or escaping the passage. Though it would not be easy to get to, the dragon's shrill vibrating attack had burst open a weakened part of the building's wall, giving them an opportunity to flee the Corviknight!

SURVEY #1

"What is your favorite way to travel?"[break][break]

SURVEY #4

"Is the person you are now, the person you wanted to be when you were younger?"[break][break]

SURVEY #8

"What would you say to a deceased member of your Pokemon team if you had the opportunity?"[break][break]

SURVEY #14

"Do you believe in the afterlife?"[break][break]

SURVEY #15

"What would the apocalypse look like or feel like for you?"

As much as she wanted to slither around Oldale making the rounds for Lucia, the Arbok was not the most adept at carrying any burdens other than Shalin herself. The winding motion couldn't have been good on any eggs, and neither was that rattle. If its shaking was powerful enough to tickle Shalin, it could do a serious number on the unborn Pokémon. "Not by intuition, but let's find out!" She dismounted and withdrew the fanged poison-type, taking her phone out and logging into RangerNet. While any mapping app would do, it was the one she was most familiar with from her work as a Captain. Plus, it would be integrated with other Ranger resources, such as where known outbreaks were. Outbreaks that could be critical to avoid.

"Looks like we're quite a few miles northeast of Oldale," she reported. "You have any Pokémon that are faster than walking?" Clicking open a special Poké Ball, a saddle-wearing Type: Null emerged from it, the normal-type crouching to let the young woman aboard.

It was natural for the stranger to fear Shalin's Pokémon, despite the gear they wore implying how well-behaved they were. Lathiel met the side-eye with a noise that sounded halfway between a mew and a bark, the synthesized biological weapon not excited to be around Cyrus. The others seemed to be, Lady wagging her tail incessantly and innocently.

"It's okay!" Shalin assured him. Their journey wouldn't exactly be a short one, having to cross Petalburg Woods to get to Petalburg City at all. "Shalin Nariya. I'm Captain here," she introduced herself. "These three are Lathiel," she gently pat the Type: Null's head, "Lady, and Leo," she named the Boltund and Luxray. "Got a Pokémon that can help out with the deliveries? If you don't, I've got you covered!" For a Ranger higher-up, she was a bit too cheerful.

Even with Hayabusa still, Shalin's words were a bit hard to understand, most of her body feeling like jelly. It only took her one ride upon the Scyther's wings to appreciate the sheer power needed for them to lift the giant insect into the air. Next time she used her Ariados for this, she knew to stick to the wings of a Pokémon with a higher beating frequency rather than something with such strength. She felt like she had stepped out of a blender from how powerfully Hayabuza buzzed her.

With some wriggling and the edges of her suit's scales, Shalin cut enough of the web to safely get off her perch on the Scyther. She frowned when she saw how hard the exertion was on the blade-armed Pokémon, noticing slight discoloration around the bases of the wing Shalin was on. "I... should be okay," the Captain huffed, still coming down from the adrenaline high. The Pokémon she was just atop gently fluttered his wings to clean his wings of the rest of the hardened silk. "I now know that Scyther wings and Ariados silk don't mix!"

Shalin grinned at the traveler's compliment, her eyes shifting toward their Absol. It made her think about Dusk, her own Absol that was still at her home base on Petalburg Plateau. "Thanks!" she chirped back. "I wasn't once called Hoenn's wildest Pokémon rider for nothing!"

Shalin reined Lathiel around so that the so-called Ultra Beast killer would face Caelan. "Captain Shalin Nariya of Rustboro," she introduced herself to the traveler. "What brings you out to a place so remote?" she asked, curious and perhaps a bit too inquisitive. Lathiel made eye contact with the Absol but did not greet them.

Though Balan's large saddle was designed to mitigate the stresses the big cat's flexing back would put on Shalin's body, it was still quite a bit rougher than riding horseback. The Captain was used to getting dumbfounded looks from those she worked with, particularly when her giant bug-types were involved. Perhaps unbeknownst to Caelan, the big cats were tame by her standards.

"Leo can see through almost anything; if our attacker is in those woods, they won't be able to hide from him," Shalin bragged. "And Balan's quiet when he runs. They've both got keen tracking senses, too. Now how about we get out there and find a trail?" The Luxray would gently nuzzle Caelan if they allowed it before getting to serious work.

Doused by the RAIN DANCE and protected from the CHARGE BEAM, Bass Boost continued to use the strongest weapon she had: vibration. Rather than shake the lumps on her back, she instead loosed a powerful bellow that rocked the three-headed dragon's eardrums. The electricity would be drawn into Noh's BUBBLE BEAM, serving as a conduit to make the attack even stronger against the fairy-type. The FAIRY WIND would briefly blow the monstrosity off course, but it would not down the Hydreigon like a normal fairy-type attack would.

"That's the thing, Lutgarde - it doesn't have a weakness! That's why Kiara died fighting this thing!" the Captain managed before her Pokémon's HYPER VOICE drowned out all other noise. The violent sound burst stunned the fire and lightning heads, but not the ice head. It belched FROST BREATH in a titanic hemisphere around the Rangers and their team, the cold drying out the Seismitoad's skin and causing her to collapse on the spot. Her SYGNA SUIT, attuned to a Flygon, protected her very little; if anything, it would make the ice-type attack even more effective against her, too. She was shivering, frostbite covering her exposed skin...