The path curved and led into a small opening trail where John was able to fully see the tracks of shoe imprints on the ground. They were getting more and more defined as he followed the source before there the hunter was that had been sitting in front of him.

The familiar, child shaped silhouette of a Paldean youth who had met him once before. She had seen better days, her front and side coated in a fresh mud. Her hair had several twigs and leaves sticking out of it, alongside minor scorch marks on her jacket's side, but all in all, she was in decent health.

Her tear soaked eyes locked onto John as he made himself known, having been caught on guard. While saddened, her mood visibly improved upon see him.

"Oh...I-It's you..." Lucia rose from the ground at her own pace alongside trying to get her hair cleared of debris. She let out a huff while picking at twigs and branches. "I was trying to catch that one Pokemon through here, but he found me. I thought I could catch him easy if I snuck up on him, but..."

John Sullivan

☉

At John moving his head to help wring the twigs and leaves out of her hair, Lucia flinched every time his hand neared close to her head, though allowed him to do so without hindering or stopping him. For how much hair she had, there was a decent amount. With his help, she had it under control after a few minutes.

"Thanks..." she said hesitantly, though smiling as she appreciated the help. She moved on to answer his next remark. "The really strong ones are here, so I wanted to catch a few. We didn't do much and ran away. One launched a fire attack at us and I didn't want Hero to get hurt..."

His next question, however, she remained quiet at.

Nobody would care, that's what they would say. She deserved it before what she had done and was born into. Nothing but dirty, evil Rockets that deserved every horrible thing to happen to her. Lucia didn't really have a response other than just looking away, but at least would speak up on if she was hurt or not.

"You're a doctor and a trainer too?" Lucia asked, genuinely impressed. She hesitated, but would slowly try to push herself up. "I-I think i can get back up. It didn't attack me directly but i- AUGH!"

Her legs wobbled and didn't seem broken or anything, but she flopped back down with a huff. She gripped her right leg, sucking her into her gritted teeth.

"That fall from the tree really hurt."

John Sullivan

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"It was a pretty short Pokemon that was chasing me, so I climbed up the tree. He wasn't really a fan of that..."

Lucia wasn't in the best spot to run if the both of them were going to be ambushed by that thing again if it did indeed come back. For now, she could maybe crawl away as best she could and pray it went after John. That was assuming Lucia would just allow anybody to get hurt on her watch. She may not have been a medic, but she could still be just as heroic!

Josh asked for her leg and she obliged. She set it before the doctor in a careful manner to reduce the amount of pain generated from moving her limb. A quick once over showed that there was now outward damage, at the very least. No bones sticking out or open wounds. But even the faintest touch to Lucia's upper thigh was enough to get her to wince in pain.

"Um, how have you been since the Tournament?" The child asked, trying to make small talk. "A-Are you doing okay? I saw that you placed higher than me."

John Sullivan

☉

It would be a pretty hard fought battle all things considered. Lucia didn't have the best record in battling, though there was some chance they could find some kind of matching ground between the weird looking Pokemon and the two of them. Maybe they could pull it off! Just not in this state though.

"Sorry for making you worry." Lucia apologized, "I thought that this would have been like any Pokemon battle before..."

The Orbeetle would get started on scanning her leg for any signs of damage as Lucia sat with baited breath. She really didn't know what would come of this, though worried that it would put an end to her journeying around Hoenn permanently.

When it finished the scan, the results would come up with a semi-moderate bruise. Nothing had broken or ruptured inside of her, but the impact trauma from the fall was more than likely the culprit for why she had experienced pain moving the leg around in wider angles than most.

His hands went through her hair as Lucia felt needles shove themselves into her head. The soft, stinging sensation that she had been all accustomed to when something had neared there. Once Doug's fingers made contact, Lucia's response was quick, flinching as she quickly leaned away. Her pulse had increased and eyes had dilated before realizing what had just happened.

"S-Sorry." she apologized again, keeping her head down. "I didn't mean to..."

Lucia rambled off while her mental game was in a bit of a funk. She hated why she always did this and how she looked to people. But she couldn;t help herself, just feeling every disgusting and horrid feeling when somebody had touched her head like that. It was a wonder that she hadn't tried to run off, and likely would have had it not been for the leg slowing her down. Doug meant well, she was sure.

She liked to think that, anyway.

At his question about gym challenges, Lucia moped but nodded her head. "Yeah. I'm still trying to work on a team though." She exhaled, but found herself looking back down at the nickname of sorts he had for her. The child found it nice in a way. Lucy. It was an even shorter way of saying her shortened name. Her mother probably wouldn't have approved though.

"Are you? Your Pokemon was way strong back when we fought last."

John Sullivan

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The distraction had worked while Lucia listened to Doug's explanation on the status of the chasm here. It was a pretty cool find, which did take her mind off of her current predicament for the moment. She did slowly lean back in at the reveal that such a wide gap would just suddenly appear like that.

"Did they ever find out what caused it to open? I don't think any normal Pokemon can just cause a hole like this to open up. And were the Pokemon just always here underground? What about all those ones that people say are robots?"

All that came to an end when Doug had showed the girl his badgees and-

"Wow."

It was all that came out of Lucia's mouth for a little while. Just taking in the sights of all the major gyms defeated that made her envious of the doctor. For a brief moment, all the pain seemed to go away while she envisioned herself in his position. The sign of a master trainer and somebody who had shown their worth to the world against anything that would do them harm.

Somebody like her brother...

"I have a ton! What was it like during your first visit to a gym? Do you have any advice on which Pokemon I should get? What about dragon types, I heard they're the strongest. Should I get a bunch of Pokemon first and then try for a badge? Or just go now? My team's still pre-evolutions right now. Do you know what any of the gym leaders do in battle? What about mega bracelets? Oh, or tera orbs! Is there something I should get first?"

Lucia leaned in, asking question after question as the gloomy mood had been replaced by a far more pleasant sounding youth wanting to squeeze every last drop of information out of Doug that she could manage.

John Sullivan

☉

Out of Doug's magical little wonder bag came an ice pack which was pressed against her leg. The sheer temperature difference between the ice pack and her body was enough to cause some minor discomfort at first, but it subsided soon enough as it was held against her skin.

But at least Doug's recollection of his first gym battle was enough to distract her for the time being!

"You've been a trainer for THAT long?! You must be, like, one of the best people in Hoenn right now! Can you show me your team sometime?"

Just for a moment, Lucia had forgotten about her little wounded leg and was happy to openly admire and gush over Doug's accomplishments. She was lucky that the ice pack had helped with the pain somewhat as she adjusted her posture to better be looking up at the man.

"Still, it's gotta be hard when your first gym leader battle is against the strongest in your region. Did you win on your first try, or did it take a few attempts?"

John Sullivan

☉

Every breath that Doug spoke had only managed to entrap the child's whimsy more and more. She had forgotten all about her leg and that fall from the tree in an instant, focused entirely on the story from somebody who had seen far more than her.

There was word that a couple of the gym challenges across the world had different rules and stipulations. Some, like the one Doug had spoken about, had badge requirements to meet before even stepping foot inside of the door. It almost gave off the impression that it was a more "members only" type of gym.

"No way! That's so cool, Doug! You're amazing!"

Lucia proudly exclaimed. Her eyes widened in wonder at him as he worked his magic with his avatar powers, far too distracted to pay much attention to it on a first glance. Beaming up at him, she'd sputter out the next thought to cross her mind.

"C-Can you teach me how to be like you?! I really need to get better at training so I can finish this gym challenge. There's somebody I really need to do this for!"

John Sullivan

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