The sound of another person wandering up to her had been enough for the young trainer to jump in place out of surprise. She had been doing the usual wall flower routine and was shocked that somebody would come approach her for something. In her arms was her Dunsparce, who looked up at the Incineroar in front of him and promptly slithered straight behind his trainer.

"Um..." Lucia's eyes went to the growing trail of blood behind Biscotti. COnfliction tore her head asunder. Was this some sort of effect or trail when people moved? Or was this person actually bleeding? She stayed quiet for a minute and looked ready to explode from her internal thoughts before she spoke up again.

"You're...bleeding."

A shaky hand pointed the fact out for Biscotti, ignorant of his condition. For all she knew, he wasn't aware of the wound he had.

"I, um, sure." Lucia nodded at his request. She hadn't seen this Pokemon before, but would try and figure it out. Red and black meant it could reasonably be a handful of types. Maybe fire? Or a ghost type?

"I'm sorry I'm not a good opponent. This is my fourth battle..."

- Hero (Dunsparce) | ♥♥♥

Biscotti Kingsley

☉

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[attr="class","bisc"]The brunette winced as the kid jumped. Way to make friends, Scotti. Good job. He kept his friendly, awkward smile in place as the girl turned around. He was glad he looked pretty harmless right now. If one of those beefy brawlers approached Lucia, he was worried she might run off into the ocean. Instead of an immediate response, he received radio silence. “Uh, you all right?”

Then, she finally spoke. “Again?” He turned to follow the crimson trail. “Yepp. Shoot.” The brunette just shook his head. A quick glance at his new shoes showed the red fabric dotted with maroon spots. Nobody ever told you what a disorder like his did to a wardrobe budget. “I hope they have somebody to clean that up.” Blood was dangerous. And, even if he didn’t have HIV or anything, he didn’t want somebody screaming at him. “I didn’t see a number or anything.” From his jacket, he pulled out a roll of bandages.

A sprits from a tiny bottle of antibiotic spray and his gash was wrapped tightly. After years of dealing with this stuff, he’d mastered the art of dressing wounds. “Thanks for telling me.” Then, she turned her little eyes on him. He felt his heart crack, Aw, man! She’s adorable! Though some part of him wondered if this was all an act—and this was a battling prodigy—he stepped up intending to lose.

“Don’t worry about it! I bet I’m way worse than you are!” Jangle shook her head: speak for yourself that gesture said. It wasn’t her that was a problem. Her trainer tended to freeze in the headlights. “I like your snake! I have one too!” Except his was way bigger and neon pink. As he realized what he said, his cheeks flared red.

Once the Dunsparce touched the ground, the Incineroar launched forward with an Ice Punch. She wasn’t a softie. She didn’t plan to pull her punches just because it was a kid. Except she totally did.

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Lucia Aldrete

☉

"Again?"

Lucia was confused. This was a reoccuring issue with him? Her eyes went down to the trickle of blood on the floor before Biscotti. Was this some sort of weird prank or something? He tended to his wound with a certain finesse one had when something had happened multiple times. It was pretty impressive really. She had assumed he was a doctor or had some kind of training.

The younger of the two couldn't help but say the first thing that came out of her mouth.

"Could you not feel yourself bleeding or something? Why would you walk around like that? Doesn't it hurt?"

He was still pretty nice to her. Not like some of the other teenagers that Lucia had talked with. Usually this was the time they had started to ask for money, pokeballs or something or other from them. FOr now, they seemed to be getting along pretty well. But in this trainer world, that was another rival to test your mettle against!

Once Dunsparce hit the field, Lucia's cute stare up at Biscotti multiplied once he mentioned having another snake pokemon as well. Her eyes widened in shock, filled with the childlike joy of being told they could have ice cream for dessert every night for the rest of their lives.

"You have a Dunsparce too?!" she gasped.

Despite how stoic she seemed back in the corner a few minutes ago, Biscotti had managed to pull her back into interacting with her own age group, even if they were on total opposite spectrums agewise.

"Can I see them? I've been training Hero for a while. We've been together since I caught him when I was 5." A smile grew on her face, though only small. "I love them! They're my favorite Pokemon."

The battle began! It was Incineroar versus a Dunsparce. Like many of his kind, Hero was still intimidated by the fire type. But he held his own for Lucia's own good. When she ran over to him, the Dunsparce puffed itself up and tried to counter with a DRILL RUN of its own!

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- Hero (Dunsparce) | ♥♥♥

Biscotti Kingsley

☉

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[attr="class","bisc"]The question made the teen flush. “Yeah…” He admits sheepishly. A hand lifts to rub at the back of his head, fingers trailing down old scard. “It happens a lot.” At the question, he hummed. At least being dumb stopped him from having to dumb himself down for kids. “And, uh, it’s something like that. I can’t feel pain. The dripping, sure. But the actual impact?” His shoulders lifted in a defeated shrug.

At the Dunsparce question, the brunette grinned. “I do, well, kind of. Mine’s evolved now.” He didn’t say its name outloud—people already thought he had a stutter without it. A look at Jangle though told him it wasn’t time for show-and-tell. The cat’s tail lashed angrily to the side. Her arms folded across her chest. “I’ll show you after! Promise!”

As the chubby snake charged—tearing the ground up in its wake—the Incineroar tapped a hand on her side. Scotti fumbled for his Tera Orb as the two clashed. Would it activate before she got struck? Save her a few HP on With a snarl, the fire cat responded with a Cross Chop.

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Lucia Aldrete

☉

The news had been a bit of a surprise to Lucia. A kind of disability that didn't allow somebody to feel pain? It sounded like a pretty worrisome weakness to have. Always checking on yourself constantly and treating any kind of wound you got made for an awful sort of existence.

Still, he seemed like he was doing okay despite this setback. Besides his foot, anyway...

She was excited to see his Dunsparce after how much he spoke about it. She had always wondered when Hero would evolve since they had been training like this for quite some time. The Incineroar by him did have a point in its glare. Now was not the time to be chatting so freely.

Hero's attack had missed the mark, receiving a cross chop for his efforts. Still, he wasn't out just yet!

"C'mon, Hero! Hang in there!"

The Dunsparce puffed himself back up and seem to shake off the attack. He surrounded himself in a lavender energy, coming back at the Incineroar with a DRAGON RUSH.

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- Hero (Dunsparce) | ♥♥

Biscotti Kingsley

☉

[attr="class","blbqimg"]

[attr="class","bisc"]If anybody asked, Jangle would claim she wasn’t being soft. Just that the sun was in her eyes. That’s why the attack lacked its usual vigor. And, even if that wasn’t it, there was no requirement to beat the snot out of your opponent here. That AR heart still disappeared regardless. When the Dunsparce bounced back, the fire-type couldn’t resist a smile.

The Incinreroar did not immediately follow up on that attack. She allowed the kid’s Pokemon some time to get back on its figurative feet. There’d be zero pleasure in just beating the snake to a pulp. The purple glow caught her a bit off guard. That was a strong attack for a little guy! Her trainer’s voice cracked as the Dunsparce neared. His voice filled with audible anxiety—which was totally on brand for Biscotti. “Uh—JJ!?” She rolled her eyes at another round of commentary from Captain Obvious. Dodging an attack like that at a close distance was next to impossible.

So, just as they collided, she threw forward an energy-sapping Drain Punch.

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Lucia Aldrete

☉

The Dunsparce had managed to land a hit on the Incineroar for a bit, landing it right back onto the ground. Hero was a little bit into the fight now that his adrenaline was pumping through his system. The little guy was even subject to some cheering through the girl standing behind him.

"All right, Hero! You're amazing!"

She was just as invested in him as he was with her.

Hero continued looking up at the Incineroar as their attacks clashed against one another again. Once she had closed in with her Drain punch, Hero would puff his drill up, increasing the size of his drill tail while it spun rapidly. He'd then turn it to face the incoming DRAIN PUNCH aimed directly at him.

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- Hero (Dunsparce) | ♥♥

Biscotti Kingsley

☉

[attr="class","blbqimg"]

[attr="class","bisc"]By the time she noticed the impending drill attack, it was too late to change course. “Whoa! JJ! Don’t let him Gurren Lagaan you!” Biscotti’s voice was hard to hear over the pounding in her ears. Though, if she had, it’d hurt to admit that she knew exactly what her bud was alluding to. She enjoyed sci-fi stuff and action anime.

For a second, she almost switched the attack to her left hand, but she’d lose a lot of power that way. And, if she was anything, stubborn was part of it. So, as the point grazed her knuckles, the cat allowed her shoulder to drop. In doing so, she aimed to sink the hit into the normal type’s squishy bottom, the sharp part whistling harmlessly past her shoulders.

Now that she was in close quarters, the feline decided to try and capitalize on it. Her tongue snaked out to try and Lick the younger Pokemon into submission.

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Lucia Aldrete

☉

THWACK!

The snake groaned while the punch connected with the bottom of his body. He was pretty banged up, but was still in this fight! Lucia watched anxiously while hoping that he would be able to pull through somehow. The Incineroar was already within close range as he would be subject to another attack. She closed in once more with Hero squirming and popping another ANCIENT POWER.

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- Hero (Dunsparce) | ♥

Biscotti Kingsley

☉