The sudden sound of a voice coming beside her is enough to cause Lucia to jump, looking to the right of her while her attention remains glued to the screen in front of her.

"Yeah, a rock-type into a water-type is pretty bad. But Tsubaki's pretty tough! I know she hasn't been here as long as the previous gym leader, but she's not one to take a type disadvantage lying down!"

Tsubaki dynamaxed her Pokemon, causing the floor to emit a soft shake. The process had always interested Lucia. The vibrations had made her a bit jumpy on the first day, but she had learned to enjoy how cool it felt. This gym must have been pretty well put together to not come crashing down at a shock like that! Lucia paid attention as the man spoke, as indeed, the challenger's Blastoise would become next to Dynamax. Its form had changed entirely, with its shell increasing to such amazing heights.

"Whoa, I didn't know they'd change form like that!" Lucia said, starry eyed and still learning about all the cool quirks Dynamax had. "I bet you'd have a pretty cool form as well, Hero!"

The Dunsparce beside her let out a rattled hiss either in agreement or in being terrified. Whatever the case, the child knew that he could definitely do it...somehow. The exact specifics for how it worked were pretty unknown, but it couldn't be too hard, could it?

The man's question did cause her to stumble, with her eyes still glued to the screen, even as the Blastoise had began to use its G-Max moves against the Nhiligo.

"Uh, I don't really know. Is there a right answer?..." Lucia said, looking confused. "You probably shouldn't have one one type of move one a Pokemon, so I'd say she could still outspeed him. Blastoise is kind of slow for all of its-"

She turned around to look at who had talked to her and in an instant, her expression changed. Confusion had morphed into awe and excitement. Her azure eyes dancing over every identifiable detail on the Sheriff's form.

"N-No way! You're...Michael Navidson! I read about you when I first came here! I mean, there's not a whole lot ever since Tsubaki took over, b-but you're like famous! Oh, I should have brought something to sign!"

The Dunsparce by her let out a soft yawn, coiling around his trainer's feet as she continued to have her little freak out.

"What are you doing here? Are you watching the challenges like I am?"

Navy

☉

Huh, Lucia had actually gotten that right. It surprised her, given the fact that she had a tendency to overthink things at times. She accepted the small win and watched the monitor with just as much excitement and gusto as Navy did, though perhaps not as much once she learned about how they came to know one another.

The ground underneath them rumbled from the MAX LIGHTNING used, while the Nhilego and Blastoise continued to duel.

"Oh, so you're her father? Wow, that's gotta be cool having a former gym leader as a Dad. If she's this tough to beat, I can't imagine how strong you are!"

She was envious, in more ways than one. Like none that she'd ever let him know about. But the child just continued to beam up at Navy while he d9issuaded her from any titles or anything she was about to use. It left her a little deflated, but she relented.

"R-Right. Navy. I'm-"

She hesitated using her name so freely. For now, she'd just go with something simple, what Doug had always called her by.

"Lucy. It's an honor to meet you! And I guess I am, yeah..." She crossed her arms at the screen for a moment, then chewed the inside of her cheek.

Navy probably had began to notice some things about her now that she was close by. A couple of scratches here and there, but nothing a kid would have that was out of the ordinary.

"I've been trying to work up the courage to go in, but seeing everybody else here all ready, and then watching them fight is...I don't know if I'm ready for this. I need to beat her to be a Champion, but I barely have anybody on my team that could last a minute. I've been training with one of my strong team members, but it's not going so well."

Her hands, often hidden inside of an oversized jacket meant for somebody maybe twice her age, were visible at times when she move them around. Out of habit, she reached down to carry her Dunsparce as they were briefly visible. What they looked like wasn't exactly pretty.

Medical bandaging around the thumb and index fingers, with some scorch marks against the cuffs of the jacket. Minor burns, but ones that were treated.

"I dunno, I guess I'm just worried about losing. What if I embarrass myself in front of anybody watching in here?"

Navy

☉

She furrowed her brows in thought at Navy's answer. It was that same look that a child gave when having an inkling that an adult knew what they were talking about, though that small bit of revolting against adults and those older than them. The revelation of even the champion and his husband had their fair share of defeats underneath their belts did help some.

But Lucia looked up a little at Navy. Maybe it was just that look in his eyes, or the general vibe he had. But the child felt that he was somebody she could trust. Lucia picked up Hero with her hands and carry the Dunsparce over her shoulder as he began to ask about him.

"Ace? What's an ace?" Lucia asked. "But not really. Normal-types are only weak against fighting-types, so that's not a whole lot to worry about! Oh, but I did have a short list of what I wanna get sometime!"

Lucia sounded proud of herself, the once timid looking girl taking on a newfound confidence, even if for a moment just talking about her hopes and aspirations.

"I caught a Charmander a while ago and wanted to get a Charizard, but it's been kind of hard training him. Oh, and a Tinkaton and a Clodsire too! And a Garchomp is pretty good! Maybe even something like a Gengar! Did you know their tongues can outstretch to, like, 2 households long? And a Garganacl! And an Alolan Raichu! Oh, and..."

Lucia continued to ramble off Pokemon she had always wanted to capture to Navy, every other utterance bring out a childish side of her that was rarely ever seen.

Navy

☉

Lucia's list came to a halt just as she was getting into the better list of Pokemon that she had wanted to put on a team. Navy spoke and like the perfect aspiring trainer, the impressionable child listened to every word. His little moment of hesitation did confuse her for a moment, but maybe he was just collecting this thought? A lot went into settling on a Pokemon team!

"Wow, a Charmander sounds like a whole lot of work!" Lucia observed, "Eris Halla taught me a little about taking care of one, but it's still been kind of hard. I'll definitely do that fire pit trick thing. Hopefully he doesn't melt or anything."

Truthfully, Lucia did tend to move around a lot. It was just a natural path for a trainer, especially somebody like her, who tended to keep out of the public eye. Navy's offer to teach her how to built one was well appreciated and one that Lucia would happily jump at.

"Thanks! I guess if I had to boil it down, I want a widespread team. I don't really know how to build a good one, just pick all the ones people use often. Hero's pretty powerful, but I know he's got it in him to help me become a champion!"

The cowardly Dunsparce let out a little squeak in agreement, the small wings fluttering around.

"Aren't dragon-types super mega powerful, Navy? That's what all the other trainers say. Why not build a team just full of them?"

Navy

☉

Huh, Lucia really didn't think any of what Navy had been talking about dragons before. Lucia nodded along with his words, taking mental notes about what he had said. It did make sense, given how dragons were interpreted in media. Egotism did seem like a very "draconian" trait that all of them could wield.

"I, uh, didn't think about all of that. Thanks for the heads up. It's a lot to take in. I guess I could avoid them for now, but I did see that the Safari Zone has a Gible up for catching! How much could that thing eat anyway? It's pretty small!"

It was a start, at the very least.

"Balanced team it is then! I think I could go out and find some new Pokemon out in the wild, if you wanted to come along! A-And could you maybe take a look at my PC and see what types I should focus on right now?"

Lucia held up her newly acquired mobile phone gotten with help from the helpful doctor and showed her PC boxes to Navy. She eagerly awaited his judgement, before adding on:

"When you ran the gym, did it have a theme or anything? Or even a type? Back in Paldea, our gym challenge was a bit weirder than yours."

Navy

☉

His judgement was passed and so Lucia listened. It never really occurred to her that the reason fire, water and grass got starters was due to the three types rounding out about the most weaknesses. She made more mental notes about what Pokemon to focus on next and catch to round out Hero's weaknesses. Her head bobbed up and down with every nugget of wisdom that Navy had for her.

But then she pouted at his hesitancy to explain how his gym battle was like when he operated this building. He had been so talkative before, but now for this, he was holding out on her?

"No fair! But if it's themed after warfare, I'll have to bring my A-game! When I get my team all ready, I'm gonna definitely take you up on that when I'm ready. That's going to take forever though. I wish I could speed up time training my tea, it's been taking forever."

That youthful desire to pass time, to get to the end goal without the enjoyment of the journey there. THe kid was fairly mature for her age, not blabbering about a hyperfixation or rambling on and on about her favorites more than usual.

Lucia looked back up to the screen while the G-Max'd Blastoise would clash against the Nhilego. Her eyes remained locked on again, that little squeal of enjoyment escaping her lips once she saw the Nhilego toss the Pokemon away.

"Thanks for the help, by the way, Navy. I really owe you! I don't know if I wanna be a Pokemon Master, though. Or anything, I guess. I've been trying to study up so I can learn how to be a doctor, like Doug! Have you met him yet? The coolest doctor in Hoenn, hands down!~ We met when I snuck into Area Zero and got chased by that weird Gouging Fire thing. I got hurt and he found me out there and brought me back to safety. So I want to help him out and become his assistant! Or whatever medical title that it is."

A smile crept onto her face as she talked about John Sullivan. Certainly Navy had to have heard about him! The region was only so big!

"About the Gyarados. I was having trouble with him too. I accidentally caught him when he was a Magikarp and he evolved recently. I can't control him anymore and trying to get him to listen is impossible. He almost destroyed something important on the coastline once and the lifeguards had to restrain him for me. Is he another one I should wait to use until I get badges? Actually, why do badges make Pokemon trust you? I thought bonding with them for a long time would do that way better."

Navy

☉