"Thanks for the match, too!" Shalin replied, withdrawing her Beedrill. The scoring system, and the battle premise as a whole, was certainly unusual. If the girl were to enter another battle tournament, she would be in for a rude awakening. "No offense taken! It took me a while to learn. Had I known in advance, I would have brought a different Pokémon."

Waving goodbye to Megan, Shalin turned around to report her match, heading back to the commons while she waited for the other match in her flight to finish. If she could keep winning, a podium spot would be hers!

Shalin threw her hands in the air. "Y-y-you..." she stammered. "You do you!" She would have preferred if the Espeon kept using the weak attack over and over again. Both would get what they wanted: Priam would get cold hard cash, and Shalin would get the points she needed.

The buzzer would cut off further conversation, as would the hum of Queen Zing's wings. Rather than go for the throat like she did last time, this time the Beedrill was content to zip around the Espeon. Propelled by her TAILWIND, its gusts might blow the psychic-type off his feet.

Were Espeon really that small normally? Perhaps she was used to the enormous size of her own Shiny squad a bit too much...

"Thanks!" Shalin chirped as she withdrew her close battle partner. "You're great, too; you pushed me to the limit, as expected of someone met late in the tournament." She would retrieve a match slip, fill it out, and present it to Eva to sign before taking it to the drop box.

"To you as well! I gotta show you the Venusaur side of my Sygna Suit one of these days!" the girl reminded the Head Professor. "It's unlike anything I've ever seen!" If the Professor knew much about the suits, then it would be no surprise; every Sygna Suit was a unique manifestation of the peak bond between wearer and Pokémon.

Every match at this late hour was potentially Shalin's last, registration having been closed after she had finished her match with priam conrad . If she wanted to pad her score, she had to keep winning until she won her flight. A loss meant her score would freeze where it was at.

"Oh, Seb! Great to run into you again!" Shalin waved to her next opponent, her saddled Beedrill likewise greeting him. "I'm gonna need a day off or two to recover, but we should do something together after the tournament. You've been great to talk to and bounce ideas off all weekend."

Shalin was an intense battle with ollie morales for the final podium spot as tournament registration was closing. She had to make this flight count. Every Vital was important. She and her Beedrill were tired, but the intensity of the competition was at its peak, every win and loss potentially the difference between being on stage and bubbling out.

Shalin's Beedrill waved a foreleg sting to say hello to priam conrad . "Oh, Priam! Didn't think I'd run into you a second time! I take it you're looking for a last minute standings bump, too?" she asked the familiar face. Except he probably was just going to have his Pokémon use Pay Day over and over again.

(Jan '24) zachary stellar

Having reverted from her apex form, Queen Zing's rear stinger could no longer reach deep enough to strike soft flesh. She wasn't out of weapons, though! The wasp let herself get grabbed by the Lucario, who socked her in CLOSE COMBAT. It was all to land a counterblow that not even Megan might see coming.

The Beedrill rapidly churned her wings again, producing a howling TAILWIND. Its purpose was far more sinister than to blow the Pokémon off its feet. The force behind her blindingly fast wingbeats caused her entire body to vibrate violently, threatening to rattle the metallic foe if it didn't let go right away!

The AURA SPHERE was a completely unavoidable attack. As long as its target had an Aura, which was nearly every living thing, it would strike without fail. There was little use in trying to outrun it; her wings would give out eventually from the breakneck pace she would need to keep, and when she reverted from her apex form, she would be a sitting Ducklett from coming off the Infinity Energy high. She needed to end the match now.

Raising her rear FELL STINGER, she jabbed it toward one of the holes she had created in the Lucario's armor. If it were to meet with the soft flesh beneath the steel-type's outer layer of skin, such a blow would surely be match-ending.

With dizzying speed, the Lucario closed the gap in an instant, Mega Evolving and clobbering Queen Zing from behind. Shalin grumbled as she raised her hand to the Key Stone of her MEGA CIRCLET, likewise transforming her Pokémon into her apex form. Two could play at that game!

While she could not fully match the foe's speed advantage, she could get as close as possible. The loud, low drone from her humming wings slicing the air would be complemented by a whirring noise from her four foreleg stings, pointed in the Lucario's direction. They spun fast as a Rhydon's horn, the ramming DRILL RUN designed to bore through the fighting-type's metallic armor and expose flesh vulnerable to her rear stinger.

The Steel typing would mean that Poison Jabs and Twineedles would not be helpful against the foe without some work. Queen Zing had a secret weapon that she could use for her stings to penetrate metal, but it would take a more drastic attack first. It was an attack she had no desire to unveil just yet.

Instead, the Beedrill remained on the defensive, churning her wings loudly and creating a TAILWIND behind herself, propelling her incredibly fast for a bug-type. Were the Lucario standing at an incorrect angle, the wake they produced might knock it off its feet!

With the vicious vibration rocking the Arcanine, the judges had seen enough, calling the match and waving the red flag in Toshiaki's direction. Shalin withdrew the battle-hungry Beedrill before she poked any more holes in the already-ailing fire-type.

"Good match, sorry for the suck-out," Shalin apologized. "I swear she's a sweetheart outside battle. See you around!" With that, the Captain headed back to the commons to relax. She didn't even need to patch up her Pokémon at all!

The tournament's end was at last in sight for the Rustboro Captain. Megan Whitmore would be her very final opponent, after which she would have a good idea where she would place. John Sullivan was surging up the leaderboards in the eleventh hour, but she was confident her position would hold. Even so, a win here would not only pad her position nicely, but let her fly home with a little extra spending money.

"Evening!" she waved somewhat weakly. "It's been a long weekend, but I should be okay; I had a bigger lunch this time. Captain Shalin Nariya of Rustboro, and Queen Zing will be your opponent," she gestured toward the saddle-wearing Shiny Beedrill. The creature's unusual size may have been imposing for Megan, though larger than normal Pokémon had become more common in Hoenn in recent days.

Queen Zing's reaction time was fast, but not fast enough to completely avoid the FLAMETHROWER that sizzled her way. With her right wing about to be singed, Shalin had to save her Pokémon. Raising her hand to her MEGA CIRCLET, she focused the light of MEGA EVOLUTION upon the green Beedrill, the Pokémon growing a second pair of foreleg stings and mean-looking mandibles.

Taking advantage of the incredible speed her new form bestowed upon her, she zipped around and attempted to latch onto Toshiaki's Arcanine, whipping up a TAILWIND with her churning wings. Its purpose would not be to fly fast, but to rock the fire-type with vibration that would further weaken its muscles already made weary by venom.