"Great to meet you, Pierce!" Shalin replied, trying to smile amidst her disappointment she wouldn't be going for a swim with her Pokémon. "Prower here just doesn't realize how loud his tails get when they're out of water." They were enormous, too; the propulsion they were capable of had to be immense. She could zoom and zip across the waves with Prower ferrying her about.

"You didn't see the news?" Shalin replied to Pierce's question. "Kyurem returned to the Silent Icelands and upset weather patterns again. Slateport's not too far from Oldale. If only the water were would 10 degrees warmer, we'd go for a swim. 10 degrees Unovan, mind you." 10 degrees international would have been better, perhaps even a bit too warm.

Shalin's vision faded from white as she found herself in the RKS Simulation once more, this time in a butcher shop that looked like it was from an awful part of town. She tilted her head toward a wall, covered her mouth, and sneezed. It was well-known by now that Slowpoke Tails were a delicacy, and harvesting them was fairly easy, given that they took five seconds to respond to any stimulus, including pain.

"Abhorrent," Eris may have been able to hear Shalin mutter under her breath. Though Slowpoke were... well, slow to respond to anything, they were still intelligent psychic Pokémon. She seemed to have a young co-worker, too. Shaking her head, she greeted her. "Hi there," the Captain said. not quite ready to introduce herself. When pressed to chop the Pokémon's tails off, all she could do was shake. "I... I c-c-can't," she stuttered, nearly dropping the knife on her foot. She understood harvesting Pokémon for food, but only what was necessary to eat. This operation went well beyond that.

Were there no limits to humanity's greed?

"Not at all!" Shalin chirped, the roar of a Pyroar scaring a flock of nearby Taillow and causing them to scatter. "Scar's in a good mood, it seems!" she added, recognizing that Pyroar as her own. And that was just one of the many dozens of Pokémon roaming the grassy plateau above. It was a little cooler than she was used to, but the weather wasn't cold by any stretch. The weather might even be welcome when she worked up a sweat. Eddie might, too.

Setting her pack down in a corner, Shalin gestured toward the ladder bolted to the rear of the abode. She unlocked the door at the top and swung it open. Were Eddie to follow Shalin up to the back exit, he would witness a vast, grassy plateau with a small lake in its center. There were large Pokémon frolicking about. What was most striking was that almost every single one of them was wearing a saddle. There were some truly unusual ones, too. In particular, the sight of a Kommo-o wearing riding gear, on the prowl like a quadrupedal dinosaur, could have been jarring. Who would willingly ride one of those? The vibration from their scales had to sting. Not to say that the Persian, Raticate, and seven Shiny Eeveelutions weren't unusual; that one was just the cream of the crop.

"This is it," Shalin said, smiling in anticipation of how Eddie would react to seeing her menagerie.

"I'm so excited - we're just about there!" Shalin cried as she led Eduardo Hisakawa  to her grand yet humble abode in Petalburg Woods. Seated on the back of Caprice, her golden Kantonian Ninetales, the fox maintained pace with however her friend was traveling, whether it be by foot or on a Pokémon. They had promised each other fun of their own accord, and Shalin was about to deliver on hers. She hoped Beau and Eddie would equally impress her.

After an eastward turn, Shalin would arrive at a tall, enormous, hollowed tree with a wooden door carved into it. The only thing modern-looking about the place was a metallic lock and deadbolt, which the tree house's resident was quick to unlock.

Inside what seemed to be the largest tree in Petalburg Woods, hollowed out and almost rock hard, was a small table and chair set, a hammock for sleeping, and a couple of small amenities. It was a very simplistic life, never far from nature but still with enough comfort if she needed to take shelter from the elements. On the wall hung several trophies of her exploration accomplishments, including replicas of the colorful Medallions of Eight whose real counterparts were in the entry hallway to the Halls of Origin, and somehing Eddie might recognize: her fourth-place plaque from the Vital City Tournament.

In the back was a ladder that led to a second entrance to the home. "Out the back door is my Romping Grounds. You'll love it there; it's where all my Pokémon wander when I'm not adventuring with them!"

"Long time ago, well before any modern cities were in the places they are now," was Shalin's answer. "Sadly, a lot of the knowledge about them has been lost to time. The east side had a hall with all their portraits and faceplates that presumably identified them, but the names had all faded away. You'd need a time traveling Pokémon to solve this mystery, and I'm sure whoever Dialga's and Celebi's avatars are have better things to do than solve this mystery." It sure made for a heck of an adventure, though.

"From what I can tell, they raised Pokémon that one would associate with... traditional magic, for lack of a better term. Psychic-types and fairy-types. They especially liked Ninetales. They're more prominent than any other Pokémon in the decor here," the Ranger continued. To get to the east wing, though, they would have to flip the magma flow to the other set of pipes... which would subject the duo to a nasty, bubbling trap Shalin was more than familiar with.

Shalin was a bit nervous in the Spacelord's presence. The power to manipulate matter like she could was terrifying. Better her than in the hands of Rocket, though. The Head Researcher could be trusted. If there was anyone that would not abuse the greater divine power that came with the Spacelord's Avatarship, it was illeana reyes .

"About as ready as I can be," Shalin answered, perched on her Venusaur's vine. And not just anywhere on the vine; she sat right on the very end of it. She was as close to the edge of it as she could get while still grabbing onto it with all four limbs. Vines sprouted from the back of her hands, ready to combine the strength of her own Vine Whips with her Venusaur's Power Whip when the Kyogre attacked. Not if; when.

Saria let out a bellow as she raised her vine so Illeana could get a good look at her. Indeed, she was perched on the Venusaur's vine, the grass-type winding up her vines for an attack of some kind with them. "I meant to come by your lab for you to study the suit, but this might be more valuable than any study you can imagine!"

Running water and lightbulbs were important, yes, but Shalin had a pure lake that easily collected rainwater due to its location fairly far from civilization. If she needed electricity for anything, she could use a portable rechargable battery fueled by her Pokémon. The most important thing for her was not having to deal with noise ordinances. As it turned out, Beedrill were already loud. beedrill that were Reynir's size were deafeningly loud.

Following Aubre's command, Shalin lightly kicked Reynir's sides, the Galarian Rapidash picking up the pace. "Whee-hee!" the rider cried, not used to going quite so fast on the ground. Though it was vibration and other forms of extreme motion that truly got her blood pumping, a Pokémon's rapid gallop could do so equally well, as long as they didn't go too fast. She had become sick the last time she got to ride the Mauville Gym Leader's Zeraora.

As the psychic-types galloped on, the Rustboro skyline came into view past the last layer of trees. "Gotta admit, Rustboro looks pretty from this far away," she exhaled, watching Aubre to see if she would return to the forest or head into more open grass.

The route really wasn't going to give her a choice, was it? This was not her idea of a bedtime story. This was a nightmare. She had met Aubre in person before. A little timid, but she was so nice. There was no way she could have such a horrible secret kept within her, could she? She didn't want to believe it. This was just a game, right? Even so, it was unsettling; she had found out from playing her own route how... frighteningly accurate it was to her own adventures.

Not wanting to think about it any more, she would give up on saving her... if anything, just to get it over with faster. If the story wanted Aubre put out of her misery, Shalin would do it in the most efficient and painless way possible. While most of those involved poison, there was one that involved far less poison than the rest. Sighing, she made her decision to have her Beedrill bore through the digital Aubre.

❤️ Drill Run

When the vibration stopped, a woozy-looking Shalin catching her breath after being shaken about too fast to see, it would have been clear to Dorian and any onlookers that refused to avert their gazes that she indeed was wearing a Sygna Suit. It wasn't a Beedrill one, though. It was of her Flygon, Sandy. Flygon and Beedrill had similar enough abilities that perhaps it would explain to him why she could do what she did.

Those who had the courage to stay, despite the wicked vibrations pounding the air, applauded Shalin for her display. Though she looked dizzy even after a minute or two, there was also a look of overwhelming joy on her face. What would leave anyone else feeling sick and ready to hurl, she seemed to love. Even so, she seemed to be taking her time stepping down from her perch on the green wasp's wing.

It really looked like Shalin was Venusaur's Avatar, didn't it? Vines sprouting from the backs of her hands, whipping poison spores to be blown about by the wind... she really did seem to be one with her Pokémon. "It's incredible, really," she replied with a nod, still balancing on the cracker at the end of Saria's huge vine. "I'm still learning all the battle capabilities, but from what I understand, we can't use the same move at the same time. This is why Saria knows how to use both Vine Whip and Power Whip! When used together, it's the strongest attack we've got! I bet it would even rival a legendary Pokémon's attacks! I can show you!"

With a bellow, Saria raised her vines higher into the air, the ones sprouting from the backs of Shalin's hands waving alongside them. If it wasn't clear to Lars that she was sitting on the vine's end before, it was now. A Power Whip's crack was among the most violent motions any Pokémon was capable of. How was this even possible?

Eddie's skepticism was obvious from his tone, and it was understandable; the place was fantastic. It defied reality. Shalin was scared when she explored its innards for the first time, but she and Julia Davis persevered and got to the bottom of the mystery.

"There's a way right across!" Shalin chirped in response. "That sign's built right into the bridge!" As to demonstrate what she was talking about, the girl took a step off the cliff face and toward the large double doors. Her foot made no sound when it touched the "ground" below; the only sign of her touching something solid was how her clothes rippled. She took another step, putting weight on the seemingly suspended leg, then turned around. To Eddie, it may have looked like she was floating.

"There's a bridge spanning the way to the doors," Shalin explained. "It's just masked visually and aurally by a psychic power." She even walked around it, stepping carefully to make sure didn't accidentally step outside its bounds and tumble. Even if she did, there would be plenty of time to get out a Poké Ball and have one of her flying insects save her, but there was no need to experience an unneeded brush with death.