"I didn't want them to take her away. I caught her during a safari run one time and I've tried to make sure she's happy, but it's been hard..." Lucia admitted, looking away for a moment as she had began to think about the possibility of maybe she was oversharing. But this was an ex-gym leader! He certainly would know just what could help her out, even attempting to help her directly! Anything would be appreciated at this point.

His offer was definitely something she could see as chance of her losing the Gyarados, but she only looked frazzled at the mention of such a future. "B-But I know I can train him when I get better! But for now, I just..." she frowned. That classic conundrum when a child knew that something was the right choice to make, but obviously didn't want to do it. Lucia remained quiet for a moment before letting out a frustrated huff. "O-Okay...Maybe I'm not ready. But I need to make things right at least. If we can calm her down enough to listen, maybe she'll listen."

Then, team building time!

"I don't want to hurt her too bad, but I don't think we should hold back if it's coming at us with 100% rage. Can you bring something good against a Gyarados? It's a water-dragon type, right? So ice should be good against it then, I think."

Navy

☉

Her eyebrow raised at the correction given to her about the Gyarados typing. Lucia was stunned by this revelation, a shocked expression painted on her face as the young trainer looked on in doubt. "What?! It's not a dragon-type? And ice doesn't just body water-types? No way!" Navy did say both were a common misconceptions, so maybe she couldn't fault herself too much? She was still going to though! At his question, Lucia would give it another shot.

Her lips pursed together in intense thought. "Ummmm..." So Gyarados for a water-type, yeah. But what other types could it be beside dragon? It did hover, yeah, but maybe it was some kind of trick question? It definitely spent time in the water, but maybe they spent a bunch of time in the ground? A lot of snakes did that, some in the water! So maybe that was an answer? But it did intimidate her a lot, and there was one other typing that excelled at that!

"Is it dark-type? It looks scary enough for it."

Navy

☉

"Darn..." Lucia looked frustrated at her second incorrect answer to the ex gym leader's question. She was embarrassing herself big time in front of the worst person to do so! "Ugh, this is hard to keep track of sometimes. How do you memorize all these Pokémon and what they can do?" She asked Navy, hoping for some type of guidance on how people even remembered what Pokemon was what type. No wonder a bunch of trainers in school would drop out during testing week in Blueberry!

"Yeah, I know about Mega Evolution. There were a couple of people that had used it back in the Tournament a while back. I always wanted one, but then I read that it hurts them to be mega evolved. Is that true, Navy?" Lucia asked, her eyes looking to him for some amount of guidance, or to confirm her suspicions. He did mention that Gyarados could mega evolve, though she hadn't ever seen that one before. Lucia pondered the idea of such a thing like that. What would it even turn into? Would it grow wings? It was hard to say without seeing it for herself.

Then he mentioned a typing that was perfect for defeating water and flying types. That was easy as pie for her to remember. "Oh, I know! Electric-types, right? Because both have it has a direct weakness, so when together, it should deal way more damage!"

Navy

☉

Practice, study, that's what every adult said! Lucia, impatient as ever, would give a small groan of indifference at his answer. She had been trying to memorize each and every single Pokemon and their typings AND what changed about them when they evolved but that was like, enough information to fill up an entire classroom of people! She chided herself for the shortcoming and felt her frustration grow once more. "Ugh, everybody always says that though!" Her pout did get a little confession out of Navy though, as he seemed to share some history with it.

"Really?! I know, right! That doesn't make any sense why it doesn't. Rules are so stupid sometimes." It had gotten the child out of her mental funk enough to focus on something else at least, and she was all the more happy to just be told about mega evolution hurting some pokemon and then frowning at the news. "I-It does?! But why would anybody do that to their Pokemon?" she asked, then would frown. "I'll never mega evolve Pokemon EVER! I won't let them get hurt like that!"

One childish proclamation aside, Lucia looked up at the strange Paradox Pokemon that Navy had called out and gasped in amazement. "It's a robotic Pokemon! How did you get this?" she asked him with awe. "With your help, we'll have Wavecrest calmed down in no time! Thank you so so much again, Navy! You're like the coolest former gym leader ever! Whenever you're ready to go somewhere with some space, I can call out my Gyarados. I promise Hero isn't like other normal types! He's the coolest and best Dunsparce ever!"

The titular Dunsparce was coiled around his trainer's legs and trembling in fear, his form shuddering to imagine going up against such an intimidating foe, though perhaps he would show his true colors in battle?

Navy

☉

Tera shards? Lucia was surprised that they had moved over to Hoenn from Paldea so fast! Lucia, like the mega bracelet, had been driven a bit out of her price point, though hoped that maybe some day, she could afford one of those neat little Tera Orbs. May one day she could stop blowing all of her weekly allowance on plushies and buy one, but she just HAD to have that $500 life sized Snorlax plush! Maybe Doug had some side jobs or something he needed done...

The child tagged along behind Navy as he went out of the building, the ever vigilant sidekick to now another important person of the region taking out her Gyarados's pokeball and rolling in between her hands on the way to the beach. Her thoughts worried about how angry Wavecrest likely was over the ordeal, thoughts swirling around how she could ever make it up to the Pokemon. "Iron Valiant, or Roland for short. It's nice to meet you, Roland! Thanks for helping Navy and I with this." she cheered, before then going near the water once the crowd had gathered at the beachside. Lucia threw out the pokeball containing the angry dragon-like Pokemon...

The Gyarados' form appeared in front of them and let out a terrifying roar in Lucia's direction. Her tail swung behind her, smashing into the water behind the Pokemon as she looked over at the two. "Wavecrest, please, just listen to me! I want to apologize!" Lucia cried out to her. The angry water-type charged before towards the Dunsparce and the Iron Valiant. Hero trembled in place, but after looking back to his trainer, the Dunsparce rose to defend her. Hero raised his drill tail to the sky and charged forward to meet the Gyarados' attack.

Navy

☉

Maybe it was the sight of Lucia that had caused the Gyarados' nostrils to flare up. Or maybe it was the perceived threat of the Iron Valiant that had caused her to let out a guttural, furious roar across the water. Whatever the case may have been, it caused Lucia and Hero to brace themselves for the impact. The Dunsparce let out a rattled cry of defiance, emboldened by his close proximity with his owner. The Dunsparce's tail rose into the air, gaining significantly larger as it prepared itself to defend Lucia with a HYPER DRILL.

Upon seeing it, the Gyarados paused its charge a medium sized distance away from the party, with Lucia trembling in fear. Her eyes widened, the look of a child who had stared down death before, yet had to look at it once more. "Ah-I...I'm..." She tried to stammer out while the water-type watched on, then grew tired of her incessent babbling. Wavecrest reared her head back before blasting the two of them with a powerful HYDRO PUMP. The sheer force of it had backed Lucia into the water, swimming up to the surface while searching around wildly.

"Hero? Where'd you go?" she asked, spotting the normal-type clashing against the Gyarados' tail with his own. The force of the attacks of two Pokemon had caused the ground beneath them to crack, sand blasted from the shockwaves around them.

Navy

☉

Just as she had made contact with the water, a black shape appeared underneath Lucia. A Greninja that had caught her after flying off of the platform. "Whoa!" her eyes widened in awe, finding the shiny Greninja quite the sight to behold. One headpat later and she was placed on top of an frozen part of the water, enough to support her while observing the battle from afar.

Hero continued to hold his own against the Gyarados tail slam before deflecting it away from the attack. Still skittering around the smaller dock area, the water dragon was targeted by the electric attacks sent towards it by the Iron Valiant. It brings forth the ire of the fish's rage. He let out another furious roar as Wavecrest continued his OUTRAGE against anything remotely in front of him. the waves of the water smashing into the pier, separating a few boards of it from the mainland. Hero had still hung on, against all odds! Lucia looked over at Navy pushing himself onto the icy platform beside her.

"You can do it, Hero!" Lucia said, the younger trainer pumping her fist out for her Dunsparce. His courage renewed by the cheering. Hero would continue to fight against the opponent that far outranked him. The Gyarados lunged at him against, aiming to smash into the platform in full. The assault had landed with incredible power against him, throwing him into the water below. "Hero!" Lucia cried out, ready to dive into the water to swim if not for Hattori and Navy. Wavecrest took pleasure in felling the Dunsparce and turned his attention back over towards Navy and Lucia, aiming to rush at them as well.

But a sudden giant Drill had landed square in the Gyarados' side! Hero looked on from the shore, pained but still ready to fight! The child's horror had turned into hope while she beamed with delight again. Wavecrest, however, turned around to aim at hero again. Lucia looked at the Dunsparce and readied to return him back to his ball. The red beam shot out from the Pokeball, but Hero dodged to the side while readying his tail again. "Hero, please! You can't survive that again!" she called out to her Pokemon, worried that he was also not listening. The Dunsparce let out another shaky cry as Lucia frowned, but relented. "I trust you..."

The Gyarados closed in on Hero's location again, surging forward with its mouth wide open and speeding by the water where Hero had been. Both plunged underneath the water as the fight continued with baited breath, Ominous bubbling appeared a short distance away before Wavecrest submerged from the water with his mouth open. Hero lay on his tongue, his tail upwards and pushing back against the dragon's bite. Lucia gasped, watching on as the Dunsparce's strength had begun to wane. Every second, the Gyarados was coming closer and closer to biting down fully and turning him into a snack. She panicked, terrified of losing her first Pokemon to a mistake that was her fault.

"WAVECREST! STOP!" she cried out, to which the water-type refused. Hero shook with pain and fatigue. No matter how much was pelted at him by Roland, he refused to stop. Lucia paced around in a crying, aggravated mess before trying one last hail mary.

"Ah-I know you're afraid Hero, and I know it hurts! This is all my fault! I didn't ever want you to fight, but ever since you saved me in Paldea, you're the strong Dunsparce I know!" she said, her heartfelt pleas causing Hero to slowly try and fight back in full. "But I need you to keep fighting! Everyone looked down on us and beat us at Blueberry, when we ran away, even during our training! But I don't care about that because YOU'RE MY HERO, AND THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS!"

Suddenly, a faint glow began to surround the Dunsparce, wrapping Hero's form in a golden light. Lucia had to cover her eyes to keep from being blinded while looking to Navy. "That light's coming from Hero! What's going on?!" she asked, while the Dunsparce's form would begin to change before their eyes. Wavecrest continued to try and bite down, but felt a force pushing his jaw back from doing so.

Navy

☉