Aww, you guys...
It just goes to show how a great game can inspire. I've really been getting into Those Left Behind. Thanks very much for the very kind responses!
In brute mechanical terms, this was Talashia 'making peaceful contact with an outsider of the appropriate subtype' for her PrC...I will post the updated sheet asap. It also represents her "trading" her Storm Bolt feat for Improved Familiar to gain Shazi (an Air Mephit) as her new familiar. I'll almost certain take Storm Bolt again at 9th level, cuz it's pretty useful for a sorceror to be able to spew energy at need...but I'll make do in the meantime. The 'flavor' of this is that she's overtaxed this ability and expended it to forge the bond...it'll eventually recover.
If additional cost is required for this retraining just let me know. I'm fuzzy on how that works in 3.x.
Thanks again, for the praise and for the awesome game!