[Shalin Nariya]

With the Rangers' Guild in Maple not being open at daybreak, Shalin was frustrated. The Rangers were the one law enforcement body in general she could trust with the sensitive information she had regarding the opening of the Ultra Wormhole. If she was to disseminate the information directly to the public, she would be tarred and feathered during or after the riots such a public, unfiltered revelation would incite. As much as it went against her moral code to tell everyone what she knew about an upcoming regional crisis, she also didn't want to spark a panic. The best way she could think of to get the word out to as many people as possible was to contact the Rangers' Guild of a fairly large city. Ash City was the closest of those.

Without regard for noise ordinances or others' sleep schedules, she popped her earplugs in and released Flit just outside Maple's north gate. She scurried aboard, the Yanmega quick to take flight, the powerful wingbeat shattering the glass around two lampposts near the gate. She turned the bug west and directed her mount to gain altitude rapidly. Once she was high up enough that her Pokémon's wings wouldn't cause any property damage, she leaned into the wind. Cycling Road flew by to her north, the girl cutting across the wastes of south Arciel. Her sense of urgency grew as the sun fully came over the east horizon behind her. "Flit, hurry - use your Bug Buzz if you have to!"

The added vibration frequency from the move rocketed the two toward Ash City at dizzying speeds - she wouldn't be surprised if the two looked like a roaring Ultra Beast from below, especially with the lower light from it being sunrise. Flit's entire body was throbbing from the force behind flapping his wings as fast as he could. The rider was squinting the entire time, barely able to detect anything around her through her completely overwhelmed senses. This was a fast-travel application of the kind of vibration Flit used on its foes in battle. Though being perched between Flit's wings kept her mostly safe from the shock waves, sitting on his throbbing exoskeleton hurt.

By the time Ash City came into sight, Shalin's arms and legs were sore from being rattled about so wildly, but she didn't care. She had to push through it - all of Arciel depended on a quick reaction to the Ultra Beast crisis, and she was the region's only lead. Once she caught a glimpse the city's giant welcome sign, she ordered Flit to ease up and start descending as to not shatter any more city property. Her entire body felt like gelatin by the time the two touched down outside the Rangers' Guild, the girl rolling out of Flit's saddle and collapsing outside the building's entrance, where two on-duty Rangers were quick to surround her.

---

Stamina Increase requested.

Elizabeth Waters

NAME          SPECIES       LV    EP
Caprice       Ninetales      43     5
Prance        Stantler       32     5
Flit          Yanmega        42     7
Kiku          Skuntank       37     5
Serena        Persian        35     5
Levy          Milotic        34     5

{WC: 481}
{PC: 1}

[Jae]

Shalin Nariya - +1 stamina!

[Elizabeth Waters]

Last night had been a rough one for the ranger. Elizabeth had certainly been glad they'd arrived in the city recently and she at least had a real bed to sleep on. Still even now the migraine hadn't completely abated. Usually an early riser, Liz's morning had gotten off to a late start and honestly she didn't feel like doing a damned thing.

The adept psychic was still somewhat getting used to her abilities. Though not a natural born, she'd gone to great strides to learn how to communicate with her pokemon on another level. She'd been quite proud when she'd finally learned to initiate telepathic communication on her own and without the help of one of her psychic pokemon. She also found the skill enhanced her own natural empathic senses. Liz had always been good at putting herself in another's shoes but now she could literally feel what they were feeling.

However, with such a skill set there were some draw backs. Headaches weren't uncommon, especially if she tried to push herself too far beyond her current skill level. And one tended to pick up on things others missed which could be good or bad depending on how one looked at it. The ranger couldn't know for certain if the night's migraine was just that or due to her particular sensitivities. Being that she wasn't the only psychic of her group having troubles, she figured there must be something off in the world.

At least her pokemon were feeling better than she was. Raya was the only one having almost as much trouble as her trainer, finding the aura of the world seemed to have shifted inexplicably. Plus as one of Liz's closest pokemon, their bond sometimes had spill over so the lucario was sympathetic to her trainer's own pain. Yet as a ranger, Elizabeth wasn't about to sit around whining about a bad headache, though it was taking a good part of her own meditative and martial training to maintain her composure. But the job came first, and she soon found herself heading to the Ash City ranger station to check in, hoping they had the results of her earlier ranking session in.

Whilst the trainer was usually surrounded by her gaggle of teammates, today she'd kept only Raya, Tansy and Eirene out. With the headache it was much harder to maintain her connection to her pokemon thus reducing how many she had to keep track of made things easier on her. Though convenient, Liz had never really liked the idea of keeping her companions cooped up in their pokeballs. She was a born and raised farm girl and had always appreciated the open air and wanted to share that with her pokemon. Of course that wasn't always practical thus the young woman still retained the use of the pokeball.

As the group approached the front entrance of the station they noticed the commotion involving a young woman and her yanmega. Though a couple rangers had approached the fallen explorer, Liz and the others decided to see if there was anything they could do to assist. They hurried over and Liz greeted her co-workers with a nod. Then she knelt down beside the girl.

"Miss? Miss are you alright? Can you hear me?"

Shalin Nariya

[Shalin Nariya]

Thank goodness there were Rangers on duty at such an early hour to help Shalin to her feet. Both her arms and legs still shaky, she had some difficulty trying to stand, despite the Rangers' help. Ultimately, she was only able to make it to a wooden bench in front of the door, bracing her right arm against the back of the seat while reaching for Flit's Poké Ball to recall the tired-looking Yanmega. "...Thank you," the blonde managed between breaths, occasionally wincing from bending an arm or leg over a sensitive spot. It took her a few minutes before she felt comfortable speaking. "...My arms and legs are really sore, but I think I'll be okay."

Though there were a few red spots on her arms and legs, there were no cuts or obvious injuries anywhere on her exposed skin. "I flew on my Yanmega here as fast as I could to deliver a really important message to the Rangers. I don't trust regular law enforcement with this stuff. I just want to do the right thing--ow!" The girl seemed to grow increasingly panicked, trying to stand on her own but failing and slipping back onto the bench. "Can we go some place private? I'll tell you everything there."

---

Elizabeth Waters

NAME          SPECIES       LV    EP
Caprice       Ninetales      43     5
Prance        Stantler       32     5
Flit          Yanmega        42     7
Kiku          Skuntank       37     5
Serena        Persian        35     5
Levy          Milotic        34     5

{WC: 210}
{PC: 2}

[Elizabeth Waters]

Elizabeth placed a gentle hand on the young woman's shoulder and tried to offer a calming presence. She could sense Shalin's distress and hoped she could at least be able to provide moral support. Eirene gently nudged the explorer's knee looking concerned for the young woman. The rather picky jolteon was still quite the sympathetic sort. Raya stood at Liz's side, arms crossed, though she seemed to be blinking and screwing up her eyes repeatedly as though having to constantly readjust her vision.

"Hey easy now, don't try to move too quickly. Your muscles are probably all locked up from such a ride."

The ranger looked up and then beckoned Tansy closer. She gestured from the venusaur to Shalin and offered a hand to the girl. 

"If you like Tansy can carry you inside. We can probably find an interior office where we can chat."

The young brunette suggested as Tansy dipped her head in greeting to Shalin. The large venusaur had plenty of space beneath her bloom for one to sit comfortably if so desired. The ranger HQ was naturally designed to handle the comings and goings of a wide variety of larger pokemon thus it would be no trouble for the venusaur to enter the premises.

The one of the other rangers who'd first come to Shalin's aide headed on inside to procure a private office as requested. They quickly returned to let them know they had a place for them. Liz looked to Shalin and gave her a soft smile.

"Right looks like we've a space for that chat. What did you think? I can assist you inside or Tansy can, whichever you'd prefer."

Whatever the girl's choice, the group could head on inside to discuss the important business she had for the rangers of Ash City.

Shalin Nariya

[Shalin Nariya]

Shalin graciously accepted Tansy's effort in helping enter the Ranger facility, letting herself be propped up atop the gentle Venusaur. Thankfully for her, there was a double door that could easily accommodate all of them. "...Thank you so much," the blonde weakly answered, slowly regaining feeling in her extremities. The facility was rather large - the largest of all the ones she had been in. The receptionist tilted their head toward Liz and Shalin while they slowly headed back to the office spaces.

"If your Venusaur wouldn't mind," Shalin asked as the two reached a vacant, private space in the back. It looked like it was a space one of the bigwigs had recently been moved out of, given the size. Whether Tansy or Liz assisted her into a chair, she would do her best to maintain her posture with what limited movement she had. She slowly moved her fingers - while she squinted in pain once, they felt a lot better than when she nearly passed out on the sidewalk.

"I have a lot to say about the Ultra Wormhole that formed above the Golden Tree last night," Shalin began, "but I want anonymity - if my name is put on this...then the media..." She trailed off. The media had a tendency to blow things way out of proportion and jump to false conclusions about regional crises, just for the sake of an extra advertising Pen or two. "I just want to live a normal life..." She laughed - her definition of "normal" was far from anyone else's normal. She preferred to sleep under the stars, hated the big cities...she would even hunt her own food if she had to! She babbled incoherently for another minute or two before shaking her head. "I'll give it to you, but...but...just don't tell anyone my name, okay?!"

---

Elizabeth Waters

{WC: 305}
{PC: 3}

[Elizabeth Waters]

Tansy took extra care to travel slow and steady with her weary passenger. As the reached the smaller office Tansy had to relinquish the young explorer onto Liz's support and the young woman assisted Shalin through the door and to a seat. One good thing about these fancy offices was their plush seating. The two rangers from out front had returned to their posts so it was currently just the two humans and Liz's pokemon.

Eirene had remained close to Shalin's side and now the black jolteon settled on the opposite side of the seat ears pricked forward as she listened intently to the humans. At the mention of the Ultra Wormhole, Raya warily glanced around the office as though checking for any dangers lurking in the corners. Liz blinked, there had been an early report of a supposed Ultra Wormhole sighting but not much else since then.

"Whoa, take a deep breath now. I don't even know your name yet miss, but I suppose I can leave it out of any report, though whether my superiors will accept that or not is out of my control."

The ranger offered what she could though refrained from making any outright promises. She doubted the poor girl could be kept out of much if she had any first hand knowledge of the Ultra Wormhole but the young brunette would try her best to avoid mentioning her by name to anyone of import.

Elizabeth had never experienced anything like the Ultra Beasts herself though she had heard the stories. Still she wasn't entirely sure what to expect from all this or just how bad it might get.

All she could really do at the moment was try to comfort and reassure this weary, and obviously terrified, young woman as best she could. She placed a gentle hand on Shalin's own and focused what psychic energy she could into giving off a calm and comforting emotional wave in hopes of helping ease the girl's fears. The ranger then glanced to Raya and gestured back to the front desk.

"Mind seeing if we can get some water in here Raya?"

The lucario narrowed her eyes displeased at the thought of leaving her partner. The overprotective lucario could sense Liz was still fighting off a bad headache and with all this Ultra Beast talk the steel jackal was even more reluctant to leave her trainer's side. Liz shook her head and sighed.

"Look Tansy and Eirene are right here and I've still got Ryu, Artemis, Chani in reserve. I can't leave her and you're the only one who, sorta has fingers."

Raya blinked a bit then shook her head and scowled but slipped out the door to fetch the water as asked. And as Liz suspected nothing happened in the roughly two minute span of time it took for the steel fighter to return with a glass of water. Liz raised a brow and gave her a 'See?' look before passing the water to Shalin.

"Here, hydrating should help. Oh, and I'm Liz by the way."

Shalin Nariya

[Shalin Nariya]

Liz had most certainly led Shalin to an executive office - the chairs were very comfortable...and she needed it. She was finally starting to relax a little bit, inhaling then exhaling deeply when asked. It helped a lot. "Sorry - it's Shalin. Shalin Nariya. Normally I'd call myself the wildest rider in Arciel, but after that..." she couldn't help but shake her head. "...Thanks," she'd sheepishly answer after being offered some water.

While Raya was gone, Shalin started explaining what had happened. "It's just that anyone who heard even my first name would know where I was from and would easily be able to know who I am. You see...I'm not good with people. If word got out..." She paused again and cried for about a minute before regaining her composure again. "The news people would never leave me alone!" That didn't last long, though - she incoherently babbled in tears until Raya returned with a glass of water, which she nodded in appreciation of and started hydrating, just as Liz asked. "...Thanks Liz!" she blurted out, still overcome with emotion.

The water seemed to calm her down again, taking deep breaths. "Sorry - I'm not good with people. I'll try to explain it. I'd heard rumors about Sequoia Forest's giant Pokémon and thought it would be really cool to see them. Yesterday...or was it two days ago...or three, all the days are running together..." She again stopped for a bit, her thoughts swirling, even racing, in her head.

"Anyway, I thought it would be really cool to see the giant Pokémon...maybe even catch one. It got so late that I had to pitch a tent. Well...a wild Nidoking destroyed my tent in the middle of the night. I thought I was a goner. Somehow I was able to chase it off...but I didn't want to sleep without a tent. I felt I'd have a better chance if I tried to make it out by night. I had several fire-types, after all. Turns out I got turned around, and found myself at the Golden Tree."

---

Elizabeth Waters

{WC: 350}
{PC: 4}

[Elizabeth Waters]

The ranger listened patiently as Shalin began to ramble a little, pouring her thoughts out. Liz didn't really know what the giant pokemon or the Golden Tree had to do with Ultra Wormholes however. As a non-native she was still getting to know much of the region. She considered inquiring but felt at the moment it would be best if Shalin got everything off her chest first.

Raya stood, arms crossed, and listened as well watching the young explorer's soft, green aura for an signs of potential dishonesty. The lucario however could only see distress and concern and Liz's empathic senses didn't detect any malicious intent on Shalin's part. The brunette gave the explorer an encouraging smile though she still seemed unsure where the young woman was going with this.

"Wow, that's quite an adventure. So, what happened at the Golden Tree?"

Shalin Nariya

[Shalin Nariya]

Shalin took another deep breath, ready to continue. "I remember it all--so real. It had to be midnight or so - it was pitch black aside from the light from my Ninetales, Caprice, and the light of the Golden Tree. There was this bright Pokémon near the tree. Looked equine and had a big, black horn, with white skin and a purple and blue mane. Never seen anything like it before. When she rest the side of her horn on me, I felt like I had just slept the whole night. My Pokémon too!" She looked like she was starting to calm down somewhat, but she was still shaking a bit. Perhaps there was something absolutely dreadful to come.

"Then the weirdest thing - the Pokémon talked to me! I wonder if it was one of Arciel's legendary Pokémon. It seems like they're either our greatest friends or our worst enemies...but you can never tell with how wary they are of us humans. Anyway, I had Flit...he's the Yanmega you saw before...fly way up to help me get a better look at the tree."

Her breathing accelerated again, though this time it was out of nerves than physical limitations. "Once I got close, it sounded like a vacuum cleaner. It was so loud I could even hear it through my earplugs and even over Flit's wings. Have you ever been around a Yanmega before this? They're crazy. I wonder if the noise could be heard from anywhere outside the forest, even. Then I saw a lot of giant Pokémon--probably a dozen of them--waking up, some of them in a panic. Then..." She could help but start crying again, letting out a loud cry, "Then it happened!!!" that might have been difficult to understand.

---

Elizabeth Waters

{WC: 299}
{PC: 5}