"Yeah, I bet it is sick. I hope it's doing okay. Poor thing..."

Ever the rather naive soul, Lucia watched Jason make quick work of the Koffing and capture it in record time. Hopefully it would receive some much needed medical attention at a PokeCenter or something. She did find the poison-type pretty funny looking, especially when it would evolve and get a cool little friend attached to its body!

After making sure Jason was still ready to go, Lucia went about continuing her adventure through the abandoned area before stumbling across a familiar face sniffing around the roads in front of them. She recognized the shape and couldn't help but smile at the stuffy looking puppy.

"Hey, I know that one too! My Dad used to have one." she said, crouching down and slowly going to tiptoe while its attention was elsewhere. After making sure that she wasn't leaving herself open for attack, Lucia threw another empty pokeball at the Machiff.

[attempting to go for Maschiff!]

Jason Huang

☉

Pocketing his new prize, Jason continued to follow after the young girl. Who knows, maybe she was some kind of good luck charm; he hoped that they'd have the good fortune of running into more rare Pokemon on this trip. [break][break]

He hung back while Lucia skulked about the Maschiff. Her form could probably use some work, he thought idly; the young pup was probably too dense or too preoccupied to notice, but the Maschiff was down-wind of the girl. A more observant creature would have picked up her scent and bolted by now, but maybe this was just one of the reasons that this Pokemon made for a common companion for new trainers overseas, [break][break]

“You got this,” he called encouragingly as Lucia tossed the Pokeball at the pup, smiling when he heard the capsule 'click' close. [break][break]

A Gloom tottered around by the side of the road nearby; with a nod towards it, Jason wordlessly commanded Jaina to shoo it away with a gust of Icy Wind, [break][break]

“'Used to have one', huh? Makes sense; I bet it's probably evolved by now, right? A Mabostiff is a good Pokemon to have.” [break][break]

And one known to be very protective of children. It'd be nice to know that a Pokemon like that would be accompanying Lucia on her journey, and surely would act as a more vigilant warden than her conspicuously absent parents. Where the hell were those deadbeats, anyway? Jason briefly checked over his shoulder, half-expecting to see one or more Lucia-esque adults watching from some safe distance, but nope. He clicked his tongue with mild agitation; negligent bastards, the both of them.
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]Lucia Aldrete [break]
skipping!

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

"Yeah, he was fully evolved when I last played with him. I remember he was so cute when he was small, but I never really got to see him since I-"

Her voice trailed off as she would realize what she was about to say. She had gotten so caught up in the excitement of catching new Pokemon and more that the idea of just closing her mouth before she said something stupid had slipped her mind. Lucia paused and fully blinked before then trying to quickly sidestep.

"I...left for vacation over here! Y-Yeah, we left home and he stayed behind since he wasn't feeling well. I hope he's feeling better."

Smooth, he probably didn't suspect a thing! Fortunately for her, another Pokemon over the horizon, and another that Lucia noticed. She smirked at the distraction and hurried over at the Varoom. The engine look-alike was roaring across the landscape, creating loads of damage around the area. It blew through a rotting door, all while she squinted at the blur.

"Ooh, that's the next one I want!" She threw out her Wooper, Muck babbling about while then pointing at the Varoom. "That's your target, Muck! Slow it down!"

The Paldean Wooper didn't respond, just barely recognizing his trainer's orders but then waddling to the areas the Varoom was quickly spiraling around and spitting out a sudden MUD SHOT. It wasn't a lot, but the sudden change in terrain had gunked the wheels under control. Lucia smirked, readying her hand until she looked at the pokemon closer.

It's mouth had been tangled in something that covered it completely, and that wasn't to mention the strange barcode-like thing against its side. She frowned at the sight, and then went closer, against her better judgement. The Varoom spun out, trying to get away while stuck in the gunk but was unable to free itself.

"Hey, wait!" Lucia said, kneeling down to the Varoom and undoing the plastic ties across its mouth. She was quick to tear it off, grunting a little until it tore. She worked on freeing it of its other marks and more. All while the Pokemon shook under her touch. She felt bad for the poor thing and even would have went to coax it had her eyes not locked onto one of the bindings that held a familiar symbol.

The Symbol of Rocket.

Her scream could be heard from afar, scrambling back as she was terrified of what they did to this Pokemon. She heaved and huffed, then looked at the Varoom was one of absolute fear. She had to calm herself down. Don't let anybody know. Right now, she had to get this thing out of sight.

"Ah-I'll get you somewhere safe."

Without another word, she tossed a Pokeball at the Varoom.

[attempting to go for Varoom!]

Jason Huang

☉

Kids were always terrible at lying. Jason's brow quirked with questioning curiosity at Lucia's little slip-up, but he held back the line of inquiry waiting at the tip of his tongue. Bad liars were always much better at telling on themselves, he'd found, and were more liable to shut down under more intense scrutiny. [break][break]

So he just nodded, watching as she chased after her next target, but already approaching quickly when the child had the gall to actually try and touch the thing, [break][break]

“Lucia, you probably shouldn't- Lucia!” [break][break]

She screamed like she'd been burned, and Jason's brisk walk turned into a full-on sprint as he dashed to her side. He didn't think he had a paternal bone in his body, but who could turn away from the scream of a child? [break][break]

“Are you hurt? Are you okay?” [break][break]

Nearby, a Seviper slunk low behind a toppled trashcan, sizing up the Popplio that stared it down with uncharacteristic animosity. Jaina struck the creature with a fearsome MOONBLAST, sending the snake reeling. Once Lucia had been attended to, Jason would snag the Pokemon for his own collection, but only after he was sure that Lucia wasn't in any immediate peril.
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]Lucia Aldrete [break]
catching seviper!

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Lucia's heart raced at seeing the stamp of the Varoom. Just that symbol brought back feelings she didn't want to greet or even think about it. Jason ran up behind her although her eyes remained locked away from him. His words muffled by the series of thoughts running through her head. After some time of trying to calm herself, Lucia slowly pushed herself up from the ground.

"I'm fine." The lie that slid through her lips so often that it may as well have been tattooed against her cheek. The child brushed herself off while looking up at Jason after a while. She was upset, it was clear as day. Hidden behind a veil of youthful exuberance. "I-It had a Rocket symbol on its body. I...just got worried for it."

She tried to lie through her teeth. Behind them a Poochyena would pitter patter through the abandoned district, snuffling some random pieces of rubble for food before going on its its life.

"Sorry to worry you. I promise I don't do this a lot."

[skipping]

Jason Huang

☉

Where the Seviper had fallen, a Mareanie began to creep up; Jaina, valiant as a foolhardy creature like her could be, fired off another MOONBLAST to knock it out, too. After all, she couldn't let it possibly hurt the two trainers, especially when the littler of the two was in such distress. [break][break]

Jason, meanwhile, just narrowed his eyes as he appraised Lucia. Lies upon lies; she must really be trying to hide something, [break][break]

“That's all, huh?” [break][break]

He looked down at her with concerned scrutiny. She was too young to be scared for her damn life, and while he wasn't one to stick his neck out for just anybody, it was all too suspicious to ignore, [break][break]

“Are you sure you're doing alright?”
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]Lucia Aldrete [break]
catching mareanie!

[attr="class","pokeclass"]