"Oh, that's so cute!" Ana can't help but squeal as she spots the Wigglytuff rolling towards her. She crouches down to greet the Pokémon at eye level, reaching out to boop its nose playfully. "Aren't you just the most adorable little puffball? Yes you are! Yes you are!"

Old Whiskers watches from nearby, his tails swishing back and forth in amusement as he keeps a keen eye on the proceedings. His ears twitch at the sound of battle coming from inside the dojo, a distant look in his eyes as if lost in memories of his own.

Ana glances up from the Wigglytuff to see if she can spot its trainer—which she does! A girl with striking blonde hair. "Is this your dojo? I've heard so many great things about the stuff that goes on here! I was hoping to learn a thing or two myself—my Pokémon and I are still pretty new to battling."

She grins, her eyes sparkling with barely contained excitement. The prospect of learning to fight alongside her partner, to forge the kind of bond she's heard so much about... it's almost too much for her to handle.

"I'm Ana, by the way!" she adds, realizing she's been prattling on without even introducing herself. "Ana Harmon, artist and adventurer extraordinaire! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Thea Naito

"Oh, you know, just a bit here and there," Ana replies with a grin, trying to play it cool. In reality, her knowledge of martial arts could probably fit inside a Pokéball with room to spare. But hey, that's what she's here to learn, right?

She reaches down to scratch Old Whiskers behind the ears, the Espeon's eyes narrowing contentedly at the attention. "This here's my partner, Old Whiskers. He's been with me since... well, since before I can remember!"

Ana straightens up, clapping her hands together with an eager smile. "Honestly, I don't know all that much about battling or martial arts or anything like that. But I want to learn! There's so much out there to discover, and I want to see it all! And if I'm gonna do that, I need to be able to hold my own in a fight."

Her eyes grow distant. A very short time ago, an odd man told her that Hoenn is dangerous, and she believes him. His words solidified her need to learn how to defend herself. Thea's dojo seems like a great first step to Ana! She refocuses on the girl in front of her with a grin, and her excitement is once more palpable, a barely contained storm of energy just waiting to be unleashed. "Can you teach me how to fight like that? I promise I'm a quick learner!"

Thea Naito

Ana can't help but giggle at Belle's shy approach, finding the sight of the Minccino offering her tail to Old Whiskers to be just about the cutest thing she's ever seen. Old Whiskers, for his part, looks mildly affronted at the prospect, but gently takes the offered appendage in his own tail and gives it a delicate shake.

"Looks like they're getting along swimmingly!" Ana laughs, eyes tracing across Thea's team. "I can't wait to see what we can all learn from each other!"

At the mention of a gi, Ana's eyes light up. "Ooh, a uniform? How exciting!" She practically bounces on her heels at the prospect of dressing up. It's like playing pretend, but real!

Ducking into the locker room, Ana quickly locates the red locker and begins rummaging through it, pulling out a gi in her size. She holds it up to herself, turning this way and that as she imagines how she'll look. "Oh, this is going to be so cool! I'm gonna look like a real martial artist!"

Reality sets in, however, when she actually tries to put the gi on. Ana may be an accomplished artist, but that doesn't mean she has the slightest clue about how to properly tie an obi. The end result is... well, it's something, that's for sure.

She steps out of the locker room with a sheepish grin. Though the shirt and pants have been adorned properly, the obi looks far more like a tangled mess than anything resembling what it is supposed to look like. "Uh, Thea? I think I might need some help..."

Thea Naito

"Thanks, Thea!" Ana grins, striking a pose that she thinks makes her look cool. Or tough. Or something. Really, she just ends up looking like she's about to break into a dance number. Nearby, Old Whiskers plods into a sunbeam that streams through the dojo's windows and promptly plops down so that he may doze off. "I feel like a totally different person! I bet I could take on the world in this thing!"

Ana hums thoughtfully at Thea's question, tapping her chin as she mulls it over. On one hand, the idea of tossing someone around like a ragdoll is deeply appealing. On the other, she's always been pretty good at kicking, even if she's never put it to any practical use before.

"Hmm... I think I like the sound of punches and kicks!" she says at last, eyes shining with determination. "It seems like it'd be more my style, you know? Fast and flashy, with lots of movement! Just like me!"

To emphasize her point, she throws a few experimental punches, shadowboxing with an imagined opponent. It's a good thing she doesn't actually make contact with anything, though, because her form is atrocious, and the only thing she'd be knocking out any time soon is herself. But hey, that's why she's here to learn, right? She can't wait—coming to Thea's dojo is proving a nice change of pace to her usual life!

Thea Naito

Ana is admittedly disappointed at the mention of warm-ups and stretches—those don't sound nearly as fun or exciting as actually getting to fight—but she quickly nods, mimicking Thea's movements as best she can.

"Of course!" she chirps, bending and twisting her body with the grace of a newborn girafarig. "I definitely want to keep coming! This is way more fun than the usual stuff I do all day."

It's actually a pretty nice change of pace to have someone telling her what to do for once, instead of the other way around. Ana's always been the type to take charge and forge her own path, a philosophy she's put to the test in Hoenn, but there's something comforting about letting someone else take the reins. Especially when that someone seems to know what they're doing.

"Okay, I think I'm all warmed up!" Ana declares after a few minutes, bouncing on her toes like a pogo stick. "Let's get to the fun part! I'm ready to learn how to kick some butt!"

Her words cause Old Whiskers to crack an eye open from where he'd been dozing in the sun, as if checking to make sure that his human isn't about to get herself into too much trouble. But when he sees that it's just a normal training session and not some kind of dangerous shenanigans, he lets out a wheezing sigh and settles back into his nap, leaving Ana to her own devices. His tail taps against Belle, as if inviting her to nap alongside him.

Thea Naito