Based on what he was saying, Dynamax was still being studied. It was odd to think that it was legal to use when some iteration of it - that within natural, authentic spots - was deadly. She wondered just how different the artificial use was to avoid lethal levels of energy.

She was glad Josh wasn't going to be held down by the loss; he had more pokemon than anyone she'd ever met, and he worked dangerous jobs outside of his gym leader lifestyle. It was a recipe for disaster if he couldn't find some way to cope. "You're such a sap," she teased, "such a big heart and bigger collection of pokemon." She pushed his shoulder lightly to emphasize the teasing remark, then perked up at the sound of Unovan food.

"I'm in! I might have to ask a bunch of questions about baseball, but I definitely know my way around some grub." She grinned. "Race you there?"

The demonstration made things obvious. She also realized she had next to no pokemon that could perform these kinds of tricks. Her pokemon often had moves that were releases of energy. Snorlax and the two pokemon she had that knew ancient power were about as close as she could get. Ferrothorn continued working with some makeshift underwater net, but she needed more variety for defenses. "Need to catch pokemon for trap moves, but I was already going to hunt for healing pokemon..."

The poison outbreak had showed her how important it was to have the capacity for healing when handling disasters. She had lucked out in not needing more than a med kit in her time as a Ranger, but luck wasn't going to cut it anymore. She was going to have to hunt for pokemon nonstop the next few weeks. "Do you really think we could prepare enough to prevent a fight?" It sounded too good to be true.

More than that, she was worried about the scale of the fight itself if it was unavoidable. "Do you think, um, Rocket might want the city to use it? So maybe they won't destroy it too much?" If it was just a power move, a scare tactic, a we-can-take-what-we-want-when-we-want demonstration, then the city (any city) was at dire risk of utter destruction.

Robin offered Sinistea a fistbump, which the ghost accepted by bumping into her hand with its whole body. "Nice work," she praised. They were catching pokemon left and right. Things were going well for the duo, and Robin had the benefit of not being as ill as she was the last time she visited the safari zone. She was getting back on her feet from the overexposure to poison last month. "Let's see what else is out here."

Oh.

Dynamax was new. Robin flinched as the large Charizard re-appeared on the field; he swiped at Sinistea with a claw full of electricity, and the ghost had no defense. The terrain was lit with electricity. "TERASTALLIZE!" Sinistea used the power of her nineteen shards to activate tera, taking on a crystalline appearance as different colored shards floated around her form. "Shadow on Boltund!" Sinistea used her boosted shadow ball on the canine.

Robin had no idea where to start with Charizard. Limiting Boltund's capacity to hurt her pokemon seemed like the best initial strategy. Toxtricity yelped as the Boltund closed his jaw around Tox's throat. He used POISON JAB to push the canine back and reach for his injured throat. "Tox, get distance!" But Tox refused to retreat even an inch, planting his feet on the ground as if daring the Boltund to get close again and eat a powerful attack.

"GENGAR. STOP CONFUSING THEM!" Robin yelled with cupped hands around her mouth. Her Gengar, however, was having too much fun with the horde of Pawmo and Pawmot pokemon; he continued to use confuse ray, making the horde of them move more erratically. They were jumping over each other and creating strong electrical charges where they met. The friction of their confused movement was not helping the situation. "Sinistea, aromatic mist!" The mist should have a light calming effect, but it was minimally effective thanks to Gengar's fun.

Meanwhile, her Zenith form Marshadow continued to punch any of the electric mice that got close to it. It was always eager to fight and was constantly fired up for battle even when that wasn't the solution to the problem.

After another shock from a passing pokemon, Robin twitched and squeaked. "Enough games!" But her team wasn't well equipped for crowd control, and Gengar's tricky nature kept him in this cycle of hedonistic sadism that only exacerbated the wild pokemon swarm's chaos. One Pawmo brushed her leg directly, so she ducked down and picked it up with a hand, holding it into the sky and shaking slightly with frustration. "YOU LITTLE-"

She had heard about the natural power spots, but she had never messed with the Dynamax technology because it was intimidating and, at the time, she had barely scratched the surface of mega evolutions. Still. That kind of loss was devastating. "That sounds horrible. I can't believe the authentic spots are so dangerous." It seemed unnatural for naturally occurring phenomena to take the lives of pokemon. But she didn't really understand how the power and energy mechanics of it worked.

"For what it's worth, all of your pokemon are very happy. Rime definitely had a great run. Um. If you don't mind me saying." She wasn't used to comforting people, not over the loss of a pokemon. She had not experienced it; Arceus willing, she never would.

The duo tiptoed (well, Sinistea floated) past the Granbull, but it woke anyways, its powerful sense of smell alerting it to their presence. He woke, visibly angry. Before Robin could pull a plan together, he used rage. "Nuh uh, let's get out of here." She had no interest in learning about the prowess of a very angry fairy. And she had no interest in staying close to Rustboro longer than necessary. "Time to skedaddle!"

Ah. It took Robin a moment to place the pokemon in front of her. The not-Pikachu was actually right up her alley in terms of typing, but she had heard Gwen mention the Mimmikyu at some point. She knew it would be the perfect present for her best friend, especially after smacking the Ranger in the nose with her elbow. Robin felt guilty about it despite Gwen's assurances that it was fine. "You're the perfect apology-present," Robin murmured as she waited for the pokemon to take interest in the berry beside it. As the pokemon bent to sniff, Robin tossed a pokeball right at its back.

Gwen's worry sits heavy at the base of Robin's throat. She feels overwhelmingly like crying, but Gwen's reassurance keeps her together. She stared at her best friend as Gwen stroked her face, wondering just what kind of people Gwen has come into contact with in order to speak with such certainty about dark paths, but now is not the time for an interrogation.

She turns her eyes to the Type: Null that is completely alert and staring at them. Distinctly, she feels like it has been watching for a long time.

The creatures are designed for violence. She knows they're built -- ugh, literally, built -- to hunt certain pokemon. Their behavior is deeply programmed. She suspects the worst, but the Type: Null approaches slowly, and Robin's wrapped in Gwen's arms and unwilling to move. The poor creature nudges its head against Robin hand once, twice, and gets its head underneath her palm. She sort of pets it, but it moves its head again to rub at her knuckles.

The scientist's blood transfers from her hand to the Type: Null.

She doesn't have a word for the feeling that possesses her in that moment, but her eyes turn to Gwen's with an unimaginable heaviness. In a whisper, she says, "Let's go."

She made a mental note about Purugly -- good looking out on Absalom's end, as she hadn't thought about pokemon losing their ability. Keen Eye hadn't seemed like one a pokemon should lose... ah, but what did she know. She hung on tight while Tropius tried to toss her off. Robin fell after a few moments, hitting the ground hard. The impact forced a pokeball from her belt, releasing Marshadow.

Marshadow came out swinging like always, hitting Tropius with sucker punch. Robin scrambled to her feet and got distance from the Tropius. She released her Ninetails, who used blizzard to slow Tropius down and make him uncomfortable with the sharp temperature change. "Hold Tropius off until Oranguru is handled!" She instructed, letting her pokemon keep the mind-controlled pokemon at bay.

Robin rubbed at her face. "Ah, I can't mega evolve yet." She hadn't studied it much, either. The crash courses on unusual battle mechanics were so boring that she always fell asleep during them. As a Ranger, she preferred the in-field learning. She had a hard time figuring anything out from a lecture. She couldn't be talked at.

"My guys won't have the power to push this last Wailord off." She patted Snorlax comfortingly on the arm as he whined. "It's not your fault, Mun." She gestured to the last Wailord. "Take it away, eh? With the beach cleared, we could totally score some of the shaved ice back from where we came... I think everyone's here to watch the flying Wailord, so there shouldn't be a line."

Sinistea was unlucky and could not take advantage of Boltund's close quarters to launch an immediate responding attack. She flinched as he struck her with electricity; it paralyzed her, leaving her unable to move. "Tox, you need to protect Sinistea!" The pokemon gave no indication of listening.

His eyes were set on the rapid-approaching Charizard who only fired him up more. Of his own volition, he launched a poison jab as the Charizard struck him with a dragon claw, unwilling to attempt to dodge to give Sinistea some support against Boltund. No, Toxtricity was locked into combat with this Charizard and his ego would not allow him to succumb to the dragon's strength. "Tox! Get distance from Charizard!" But he only seemed to care about what else he could strike the dragon with.

Robin couldn't imagine the extremes of Goldenrod. It sounded like the residents would need a lot of adjustments to get comfortable. She preferred consistency. While she did like the heat, the gentle weather of Dewford had been welcoming to grow up in. It just didn't come close to hot, muggy summer nights by the lake, under the stars. She felt like her best self in that scenario.

She deposited the last egg from Hydreigon's back into the daycare worker's hands as she heard something odd from Josh. He looked very distant at the moment, clearly not present with her. "Josh? You alright?" She didn't want to put a hand on his shoulder and jolt him, as people tended to not take such an abrupt action well when they were in their heads. Sinistea sensed Robin's discomfort and created aromatic mist to gently bring Josh's senses back to the present if he wasn't pulled back by the sound of Robin's voice.