The trust between Pokémon and trainer to do what Shalin did was enormous. As she would later find out, without that special Sygna bond, the stresses the vibrations put on her joints would be agonizing. Had she not been used to sonic attacks, Eva Morales ' Noivern would have made her hair stand on end, as well. As the two touched down, Sandy roared her wings one more time to keep the Infinity Energy flowing between them.

The MISTY TERRAIN did only so much to keep both Shalin and her Flygon from coughing; the stench in the air was more dense than at the last Power Spot she had been to. Sandy's wings were constantly humming to try to blow the toxic aroma away, but to no avail; it was simply too widespread to repel. "We go right," the Captain pointed, swearing she could hear something big moving from the left side. Little did she know how quickly Dynergy could accumulate and produce nightmarish beings that threatened to make the invaders leave without a scrap of Dynite Ore to their names...

Shalin's four major joints were still red with a dull pain, though they no longer screamed after being hurled and flung about from dorian westcliff 's Sygna experiment. She remembered how loudly her body cried out; what was once the most fun she ever had with a Pokémon had nearly ended her life. There was a reason a Power Whip was a dangerous weapon and not a carnival ride... at least, without the protection of her Sygna Suit.

Seeing the Admin face to face, she tensed up, briefly shaking before voicing her concerns. "Why me? And why Petalburg?" she asked, gently rubbing her knees to try to relax them.

Shalin's hair stood on end as Prower's tails roared like a marine engine, catching up to Eva Morales from Dewford's seas. Once she was in the shallows, she let go of her Shiny Floatzel's back and let her momentum carry her to the shore, where the POWER SPOT was located. "Just about!" she chirped back, reaching for the water-type's Poké Ball and withdrawing him. "Can't go into one of these wells without a flying Pokémon to take you down and back up!"

Though Shalin did not have many Pokémon that could fly, the ones that could were among her closest partners. Clicking the switch on Sandy's Poké Ball, her Sygna Flygon emerged next to her, lowering her wings almost all the way to the ground in anticipation of her trainer wanting to sit on one of them. "Not this time, girl," she shook her head, the Flygon looking disappointed. The two had become so close to one another that she didn't just mind her trainer riding her in such an unusual way; they enjoyed it together. "...Okay, one short run."

The girl straddled the wing, letting Sandy lift her off the ground and onto it as securely as one could possibly be wearing Sygna technology. For a few fleeting seconds, she turned into a green, humming blur, getting the Infinity Energy between them flowing. Despite being hurled up and down too fast to see, the Captain looked ready for more. She slid off the wing and scurried onto the dragon's saddle proper. "Alright, now I'm ready. Let's go!" The green Pokémon would descend alongside the professor, ready to take on whatever awaited them in the Terastal depths below.

Most of Shalin's Pokémon were trained for extreme agility, not for raw speed. Savanna was one of the few that was. With the signal to go faster, the Zeraora bolted. "Careful, Miyako!" Shalin reached for her friend instinctively, but there was little she could do. Even if the Captain ran Volt ragged, there was no catching a Pokémon that fast.

As she continued to accelerate, Miyako would find controlling Savanna increasingly more challenging. Making even light turns seemed to require more strength than it did before. The electric-type seemed as stable as a mount could get while running faster than many birds could fly. The faster the Pokémon ran, the more harsh her bouncy gait would become; a saddle designed to reduce turbulence could only do so much.

Rather than continue to chase after her, Shalin reined Volt to a stop and simply watched the yellow feline tear across her Romping Grounds, whistling for as many of her Pokémon as possible to stay out of the brave officer's way. If she pushed Savanna to a Quick Attack, there would be no time for those Pokémon to react...

The longer the Genesect's engine hummed, the more Shalin saw of her ruined and usurped city. "Never," the emotionally charged Captain hissed. "Josh Devlin won't let you get any farther than Mauville. His Pokémon would run laps around any you have at your disposal." The small, densely-populated city was a League stronghold in the hands of a once self-deprecating Gym Leader who had been transformed by the light of a phoenix. "There's no one in Hoenn with a faster reaction time than him. You're just lucky that Petalburg didn't have a Gym Leader defending her."

The more Shalin saw of the city, the more she was distraught. Rocket patrols mercilessly beat those who rebelled. She watched in horror as a Conkeldurr crushed a civilian's Poké Balls, recapturing the Pokémon within and liberating them for the Syndicate. She was too occupied with the city to realize that this was the same Genesect that had fled her back at Dewford. Was it the Shiny hue that prevented her from realizing that, or was it the atrocities Dorian had subject her to inside the Rocket submarine? Her tender joints spoke loudly...

For however hard Jiwari could buck, Savanna could run just as fast. The Captain looked genuinely worried. "No, I'm serious," Shalin reiterated. "If you're not still feeling fully well, be really careful with her. I just don't want you getting hurt." When Miyako gave the thundercat a pet, Savanna loosed a mighty purr that caused her fur to stand on end, rocking and rattling her guest rider like a motorcycle on full tilt.

Were the Zeraora to feel Miyako's hands holding her reins, she would start off with a slow-paced run by her standards. The wind would still howl in Miyako's ears, giving her an idea of just what she was capable of if she actually tried. Shalin whistled for Volt, her Shiny Jolteon, and hopped on to try to keep up with the mythical Pokémon. If Miyako was feeling confident (and reckless), though, the Captain wouldn't be able to keep up...

There was no harm in taking the scenic route. Once Shalin was to the other side, she dismounted from her Sharpedo and withdrew her, for the shark could not swim above the dry, blue floors of the partially-submerged ruin. Provided Allegra didn't need help, she would lead the way to the north. Beyond, she couldn't believe her eyes; an entire horde of Lileep and Cradily, the largest a Shiny one, were all using their STORM DRAIN ability to keep the tall chamber completely dry. They all seemed to be enjoying the torrent of water trying to flood the room and make passage possible for Pokémon that didn't fly.

Shalin's COMPASS also indicated that there was treasure hidden somewhere in the room. "Holy... have you ever seen this many Cradily at once?" the Captain asked Allegra, wondering how she was going to brace herself for the fall. That was not a short distance down!

"I love nature, too, but neither could I," Shalin nodded as they started down the trail, the ride much more smooth than it was going uphill. "It's just too far. You'd have to have your own personal Corviknight taxi to get anything delivered here." While it wouldn't be a huge deal for someone as resourceful as Shalin to construct one, it would be draining for most. Living rural took a different kind of person. While Shalin lived off-grid, she wasn't far from Petalburg or Rustboro.

Upon feeling Biscotti touching her ears, Serena purred powerfully enough to tickle him, but not so much that it could hurt. "I think she's really warmed up to you, heh!" she briefly giggled, Lathiel still eying him, though less warily than before.

When asked about plans for the evening, she answered, "Not really! Why, what did you have in mind?"