"Hey!" Lucia called out while in Area Zero, standing on top of a medium sized rock with her hands cupped over her mouth. Her voice echoed all around the vast area, while the Dunsparce by her would be on the lookout around the lip of the giant rock. "Anybody out there?!"

Nothing, not one shout or answer. Lucia huffed and looked out over the horizon for any kind of blip or silhouette that was in the shape of three teenage boys who had been missing over the course of a few hours. The younger girl looked down at Hero with a worried expression. her arms crossed with one another before she would shake her head.

"See anything, Hero?" she asked, "Nothing's sticking out for me."

The Dunsparce shook his head while squinting at the scenery around them and continuing his search.

Gwyar Wledig

☉

The sound of another voice behind her had caused Lucia to jump straight up, possible right out of her skin. She spun around to face the blonde man that had wandered closer to her. On cue, her personality shriveled back down inside of her while taking a step back. Hero puffed himself up and went to stand in front of his owner to defend her from this new threat!

"Mmm..." she whined, her brows furrowed together in caution.

But then he pulled out a badge she had recognized from her time researching some of the gym leaders! Her mouth opened in awe at who the man in front of her was. An actual Gym Leader had come down here?! Should he back back in his gym and, like, battle people her age?

"You're Gwyar Wledig, Gym Leader of Mossdeep City!" Lucia said at the same time as he had. Her eyes lit up with the strength of a thousand suns. Her previous inclinations towards the man had changed to admiration, though still contained traces of hesitation.

"It's such an honor! I, u-um, I'm Lucia. Trying to train to do the gym challenge. I was searching for Pokemon to join my team before I heard about some people here who went missing a while ago. So were were trying to find them."

Hero had stood down from his defense of Lucia. He returned to her side and looked happy enough that the man meant no harm to his trainer.

"So I was trying to look for them. But why are you here? I though Gym Leaders couldn't leave their Gyms..."

Gwyar Wledig

☉

She was a puppy at this point, fully astonished by the might that was Gwyar. The littlest gym challenger jumped at the deep, boasting laugh that had come from the man but otherwise was happy to make his acquaintance!

It was a relief that she wasn't alone in searching for those missing children! Gwyar had been trying to locate them as well, though his rate of success must have been mirroring her own. Without the lack of a flying type to get around quickly, there was little ground that she could cover compared to most other trainers.

But at the invitation to help, Lucia was quick to jump into action!

"I-I'd love to, Mr. Wledig! It would be an honor to help a Gym Leader!"

Gwyar Wledig

☉

"It would, but do you have a"

Wow, he was super tall! Or she was really short. But Gwyar was towering above her like some mountain of muscle. Would she be that tall one day? She'd have to eat as many vegetables as possible to get as tall as he was!

Speaking of giants, he threw out his giant Corviknight that somehow had been just as tall as he was, at least to a child like her. The sight of one had made her grin widely. Seeing a Corviknight in person like that in person was quite the sight, especially considering what happened to most of the population back home.

"A Corviknight?! I haven't seen one of these in person before!" Lucia smiled, then took a bow before the majestic flying type to show respect. "It's nice to meet you, Lancelette! I bet you'll be able to help us find those teens!"

The conversation went onto her partner, which she took great pleasure in showing off. Lucia picked up Hero like a stuffed doll before cradling him in her hands. Her chest puffed up as if to proudly boast about his prowess.

"This is Hero. He's the very first Pokemon I ever caught and best Dunsparce ever! When I was little, my brother taught me how to catch Pokemon and I tried to catch him and failed. I must have cried super hard, because he wandered up and tried to make me feel better. Ever since, he's taken care of me!"

SHero let out a short huff and waddled in her arms, though Lucia looked back up to Lancelette.

"Back in Paldea, we almost never saw Corviknights outside of trainers and farms. We had these Pokemon called Tinkaton that would throw rocks at them to hunt them and pry off all the armor, bit by bit."

Gwyar Wledig

☉

The Dunsparce nodded at Gwyar's introduction of himself before Lucia had put him down. He shook his scaly body and slithered back along the ground before coming to rest at her side again.

Lancelette's reaction to hearing the name of its natural enemy wasn't totally out of left field. Lucia knew that the entire Corviknight line in Paldea tended to be under threat of being hit with rocks from the fearsome pink warriors. But she laughed along with Gwyar and then looked back up at the bird.

"I bet! Lancelette's definitely one of the strongest looking Corviknights I've seen! Will she be battling at your gym?"

She hoped not. That was going to be a fearsome battle indeed. It would need a Pokemon in itself just to counter it.

Once Gwyar lowered the mount's body to the ground, Lucia's mind clicked on what they were about to do. Her entire form vibrated with excitement. Was she actual going to just ride on a flying Pokemon like this?!

"Yesyesyes!"

She picked of Hero once more and held him tight before taking Gwyar's hand and then hopping onto the Corviknight.

Gwyar Wledig

☉