Where was she? Was this some dream or something? She had been inside of the prison and now, this was someplace else...

Lucia woke up on the streets of the city, face down in the middle of the sidewalk. Still dressed in the same clothing that she had been wearing in the strange jail thing. She looked all around her at the strange sights and cityscape that lied around her. Bright, towering screens of neon lights and more.

All muted behind the black visor over the mask still on her face.

"Where am I?" she asked herself, tapping her foot on the concrete and beginning to wander around this strange city. It was clearly like some of the capitals of regions she had visited before, but...it was oddly different. Maybe it was the way some buildings warped around or didn't look like they fit in reality.

A lone figure stood in the middle of a town square that stood before her. Lucia paused and debated about what she should do, though their clothing suggested that they had come from the same place they have. The child had slowly began to walk over towards the squatting person and trying to look down at whatever they were staring at.

"Excuse me," she said in a shaky voice, "D-Do you know where we are?"

John Sullivan

☉

The man Lucia had approached didn't appear to be too caring about who he was speaking with. His masked head tilted up until the two of them met mask-to-mask with one another. The lack of any sort of energy or movement had caused the child to back away out of habit. Needles dug into every part of her body as his response back to her was short and lacked explanation.

His head tilted and off came the mask with his hand. The movement had really surprised her given exactly how long she had been wearing this thing. Something about its embrace just felt as if it had been locked that way for the rest of her life. Yet it was the name the man spoke that made her pause.

"Sophy?" she repeated, shaking her head. "Sorry, I'm not her."

Copying the movements that the man had made, Lucia had tried to quietly pry the mask off of her face. The display was awkward for a long couple of seconds but after an audible click, the mask was raised. Lucia was able to take her first breath of fresh air in a day.

"I'm Lucia. I just woke up here and I don't know where I am."

John Sullivan

☉

The name had caught Lucia's attention quick enough for it to be near impossible to not know exactly who had been in front of her. The declaration had caused her eyes to widen in shock. It all made sense now, only adding up once he slicked back his hair.

”Doug!” Her form slammed into his as the child wrapped her arms around Doug’s midsection. She squeezed with all of her might and looked up, her eyes overflowing with tears.

”IwasoscaredandIdontknowwhathappenedIwasinsomeweirdprisonandabunchofotherpeoplewerethereIwannagohomebutIdontknowhow.”

She babbled on, only pausing to catch her breath. Lucia's prayers had been answered! Now they could all go home! The child sniffled as her hands clutched the lining around Doug's top.

”B-But you know how to get us back in Hoenn, right? You can do anything!”

It was a lot to assume what she had thought Doug was capable of, but she was desperate. It had only been one day of agonizing torture and she wanted out in any shape or form possible.

John Sullivan

☉

While his presence was a reassurement that things were going to be okay, Doug’s words were anything but. Lucia stopped the waterworks for a moment while he gave his answer, even if it hurt her to hear so. How naive it was to believe that he was the skeleton key to any and all issues.

The child frowned in silence for a moment at the bad news. She looked at the ground for a moment before her entire being just collapsed entirely. Her arms tightened around Doug, legs shaking as she pressed into him more and began to launch herself into hysterics. The cool city winds brushed against her red, warm eyes while she could only speak after pausing to catch her breath.

”Augh-I wanna go home!”

She leaned into him more, the small trainer clutching onto Doug as if for dear life. Lucia only came back up from his shirt to speak again after a solid minute of sobbing.

”D-Did I do something wrong? Is that why we're here? Ah-I…” She pleaded with Doug, tears still flowing from the corners of her eyes. She knew the answer to that deep down in her soul, at what she had done back in Paldea. But how would they have known from all the way back then? Maybe it was some of their powers to judge them based on their background. And then the ones who had done the worst possible things were punished so severely. It made sense, to her, anyway.

That was why she was in the weakling ward. She had dealt with evil hands that had infested her very being.

”I deserve this…” She whined, tiring herself out of crying for the time being. Lucia faced away from Doug, and would look to the ground in defeat. ”I'm a horrible person for what I did, b-but I didn't know! Mom and Dad said we were just taking a trip! Ah-I didn't know…”

John Sullivan

☉

She wished she could believe Doug. She wished that there was something she could have done to prevent all of this from ever happening, but deep down, she knew it would only ever be a dream.

Lucia hugged Doug back through blinding, painful tears. After spilling tears for a solid minute straight, she managed to calm herself down enough to remember to breathe. Her gaze didn't rise to meet Doug's, but she shook her head with a whine.

The childish indifference refused to see things any other way.

”It is!”

She said, stomping her foot down while biting back further tears. Her hurt ego loosened her already quivering lips, as the trainer lacked the self control to monitor what she said and let the dam unleash.

”That's the only reason why I'm here! Because I let all those Pokémon end up in Rocket's care. I deserve this, Doug…”

Her spirit was in shambles, Lucia just hugging Doug, as if he would be able to rewind time and tell her that everything would be okay. She did manage to look him in the eyes again after a while, though not without a healthy dose of regret.

John Sullivan

☉

His hands were heavy on her shoulder, heavy enough to where her babbling had ceased. She was forced to look Doug in the eyes, her own pouring down tears as repeated what he had said before. Lucia said nothing but listening in silence to what he was saying.

And it still hurt, no matter how many times she heard it. She closed her eyes to squeeze the few droplets out of her eyes again before nodding silently.

"I could have stopped them, b-but I just never saw it..."

He embraced her, and Lucia did the same in return. The unwanted touch wasn't present this time. She squeezed him back while her emotional wall had been fully destroyed.

"Why's this happening to me? Why can't I be normal? Ah-I just wanted friends and to go to school and just...not be me." Lucia whined again, covering her face again. "I keep telling myself it's not my fault, but I can't...a-and I don't know why."

John Sullivan

☉