It was another sunny day in Slateport as the coastal city was enjoying another fun filled day of commerce and recreation. Yet among the residents here, a lone child was preparing to tangle with some of the wild Pokemon who were currently lurking just outside the city's range. With her pokemon team full of a well prepared lunch and ready to go, Lucia looked down at her Dunsparce.

"Alright, Hero! Let's get ready to search for some good Pokemon!" she cheered. The Dunsparce let out a cry and raised its stinger to the sky to meet his trainer's fist. "Keep an eye out and if everything goes well, we'll find some really great additions for the gym here!"

@

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At John moving his head to help wring the twigs and leaves out of her hair, Lucia flinched every time his hand neared close to her head, though allowed him to do so without hindering or stopping him. For how much hair she had, there was a decent amount. With his help, she had it under control after a few minutes.

"Thanks..." she said hesitantly, though smiling as she appreciated the help. She moved on to answer his next remark. "The really strong ones are here, so I wanted to catch a few. We didn't do much and ran away. One launched a fire attack at us and I didn't want Hero to get hurt..."

His next question, however, she remained quiet at.

Nobody would care, that's what they would say. She deserved it before what she had done and was born into. Nothing but dirty, evil Rockets that deserved every horrible thing to happen to her. Lucia didn't really have a response other than just looking away, but at least would speak up on if she was hurt or not.

"You're a doctor and a trainer too?" Lucia asked, genuinely impressed. She hesitated, but would slowly try to push herself up. "I-I think i can get back up. It didn't attack me directly but i- AUGH!"

Her legs wobbled and didn't seem broken or anything, but she flopped back down with a huff. She gripped her right leg, sucking her into her gritted teeth.

"That fall from the tree really hurt."

John Sullivan

☉

"Wow, you sound like one of those old kung fu masters in the movies that my brother used to watch! You must be like 200 years old with all the stuff you know."

It was quite the information dump that she had sat through and absorbed from the older kid. Lucia had found herself figuring out some ways of what to ask her team depending on their needs. Hero was easy enough considering how long they had been together, but everybody else probably could use a little refresher in terms of what they wanted to do and see with her.

Maybe with this, Vulcan wouldn't use FLAMETHROWER on her every time he was called out. It was a slow beginning to gaining his trust, one that she would gladly go if it meant gaining a powerful Pokemon.

"Thank you for the help, Eris. Is there anything else I should know?" she asked, sitting up and beaming at the other girl. Lucia had been drawn out of her shell, little by little, and hopefully seemed normal enough to Eris. "Is there anyway I can pay you back? I know some Paldean food that my Mom used to show me how to make."

The flinch, that soft, sudden blink Lucia made at the mention of her mother was hopefully unnoticed.

Eris Halla

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So far, so good. Even with her little mistake, Josh didn't expect anything! Lucia was a bit envious about him having 2 Zeraoras. He even got one from THE person to get it to! Even just the mention of his name got the young trainer incredibly interested in his little relationship with him.

"No way! You got a Zeraora from kyle lopez?! THE Kyle Lopez?!"

Lucia gasped, stunned. Her high energy was coming out again as she had stepped out from the pillar of anxiety that she normally parked herself behind.

"Is he as strong as people say he is? Have you battled against him? How did he become a Champion so easily?! It's important, I gotta know!"

Josh's own inclusion of Raikou wasn't lost on her. She had known that Josh was a bit of a nut over the legendary from the photographs online during her research of the Challenge Circuit. She thought it was cool, a neat quirk that even adults could have something that they could nerd out over. And honestly, who wouldn't dream of riding on a legendary Pokemon?

Would Rayquaza be a bumpy or or a more fast one? Questions for another time!

She did listen to his explanation on shiny Pokemon. During this, Lucia would look over at the other Zeraora and think back during her time at school. The one her parents probably had been told that she technically ran away from. It was quite the anomaly, one that she had found cool. A discolored Pokemon must have been worth millions, especially for some of the popular ones.

"I remember learning about recessive genes back home! That's the genetic code that's dormant in living things, right? It's confusing stuff...I sucked at science but I was in AP math classes from when I first entered Blueberry! I kinda thought science would be similar."

With the tweo Zeraora firing off at top speeds in front of them, Lucia shook her head at Josh's question.

"I don't. I was trying to train a Charmander so I could do your gym challenge, but it's...complicated."

Josh Devlin

☉

There was a lot to digest here. Lucia never once looked away from Eris as she gave her thoughts and guidance on the difference between humans and Pokemon taking charge and performing in battle. Her eyes fell down to the pokeballs resting on her person. If what Eris had been talking about, she had only recently caught the Charmander and the Magikarp that became a Gyarados. Maybe she was pushing them way too soon?

At least, that's what it sounded like.

"So, like, you're saying that Hero gets me because we've been together for so long and we're more in sync with each other?" she asked, trying to recall the lesson provided to her. "At least it's one of the reasons why he listens. So if I slowly get to know my team and stuff, they'll be sure to listen to me more? What about me though? Should I try and work on myself more? What did you do when things like this happened?"

Eris Halla

☉

Lucia continued to move alongside Josh as they went about their way through the chasm. Her eyes were glued to the larger Zeraora as it was moving in a way similar to most animals, all four legs down. It looked a little silly, as if a Machamp or even a Gardevoir had started doing something similar. But there was no doubt in her mind that it would take off in a flash if it wanted to.

She needed a fast Pokemon like that for his gym. Air, land or sea. It had to be something that could handle all three.

"The shiny phenomenon?" Lucia asked, azure eyes looking to his own. It was her first time hearing about such a thing, even after all of her classes. She was better in some area than others, those mainly being more mathematical and analytical things than what was used in practice.

"I remember hearing about it back at Blueberry, before I leeeee-" Shit! She almost slipped. Lucia hung on that syllable before floundering with what to rebound with. "-eeeeet my studies take me abroad."

Smooth.

Josh Devlin

☉

Hero puffed himself up to appear larger than he actually was, the Dunsparce a little energized from Elise's comment. Lucia, meanwhile, had no worries that he would be able to protect them. Hero was the strongest and bestest Dunsparce ever, after all!

"I agree. A lot of people really look down on Normal-types in general, but Hero was the first one I ever caught when I was 4 years old. I don't know why"

Lucia smiled at her little Dunsparce friend. Him and the Calyrex would be enough to get them through whatever trials and assignments that they would need to perform in this area. Admittedly, Lucia had wanted to just sneak off and go search for ultra powerful Pokemon to add to her team, but knew Elise would worry about her if she did that. So here she was.

The girl had her other Pokemon with her in case things got too hairy, and she was ready to prove herself in a fight again, thanks to some pep talks here and there.

"So what do you we do? Are you searching for something?" she asked the older woman.

Elise Calcifet

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Lucia was so caught up in talking with another child (even if pretty younger than her) that the Houndstone investigating her hidey hole hadn't been on one of the things worrying her. The ghost-type wouldn't have too hard of a time finding it as her scent clung to it pretty heavily. Evidence she had been there for quite a while.

Sammy's grandpa did sound like quite the detective person to do detective work from...whatever that entailed. She wasn't too keen on what it could mean since she thought they sat at a desk and read newspapers all day but there was bound to be more hard work they did! Lucia Did jump at the sudden noise nearby. A startled Deerling that had been caught off guard and was hoping that no stalking predators around to take advantage of it. Having a super famous detective for a dad or an uncle did sound fun!

She smiled down at the Vulpix. The name and the type of Vulpix it was made her assume it was an Alolan species. Sam showed an interest in trains and although Lucia herself wasn't entirely too knowledgeable with how they worked, she could show her support for him though!

"Yeah! I haven't been there myself, but they're said to be the fastest trains ever! I'm sure Blizz would like walks way more though." Lucia said with a grin. "It's old fashioned. My mom said I was named after my grandmother back home in Paldea."

It confirmed that Lucia was indeed whom he had been told about.

The younger child also seemed to share her desire to prove himself in the world of Pokemon. It wasn't an uncommon thing to see in their age demographic. What kind of kid could pass up the chance to daydream about being the best of the best? The self-correction was weird but she didn't mind it much! Not when there was the chance at showing off her party!

"I sure do! Here's my first Pokemon I ever caught!"

One pokeball toss later and a Dunsparce popped out. He wriggled around in front of Lucia and cast his eyes up at Sammy and Blizz. He wasn't too fairly brave, even less so that at the sight of new people, he went back to jumping into his trainer's arms. His drill tail shook in short bursts while Hero's tiny wings fluttered while Lucia held him.

"His name is Hero. The best Dunsparce in the world, and most bravest too! I have a whole bunch more too! Have you ever been to Paldea before?"

Another check on Nikita's list no doubt.

Nikita Sokolov

☉

"Yeah! I worked pretty hard to get it during the tournament. I was worried I had run out of time if it wasn't for all the people I met!"

Was this supposed to be the participation reward or was it given out to a select few people? Lucia had lost like 80% of her matches, enough to where it might as well had been the hardest milestone to achieve yet. One more mountain everybody else seemed to do better than she could...

Pushing these thoughts away, she watched Josh's own Zeraora(s) who were slightly larger than her own. He even had a cool little saddle for him. But was he actually going to use him as a ride? Wouldn't a large and non-bipedal Pokemon be better suited for that? He must have been some kind of skilled to be doing stuff like this.

"How come this one's white?" Lucia asked Josh while leaning closer. She hadn't really ever seen anything like it before, though was still a bit reserved with somebody else's pokemon to go any further than a single step. "And my Zeraora's name is Volt!"

Josh Devlin

☉

It wasn't her fault? That was easy to say, all things considering. If she hadn't had freaked out, this whole awkward moment wouldn't have happened! Saskia did make her feel a tad butter though. Maybe she did have a point...

Blue irises meet Saskia's own emerald ones with a glimmer of uncertainty on display for the older woman. She apologized herself for the little boundary break with her that the child fumbled with the words in her head but then just nodded her head up and down to get the moment to pass.

"Okay." Lucia put shortly, "Can we still do that battle from before? I think I could learn a lot from you..."

saskia volosenkova

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Lucia gazed out at the scenery around her with an uncertain face. She frowned, putting a hand to her mouth in worry before looking up to a smiling, reassuring Elise. Her head went up and down while Lucia did her best to put on a brave face.

"Right. I'll stick close, Elise."

Hero wiggled around by her side. He was stabbing his drill tail into the ground while keeping on the lookout for Pokemon that may have sought to do harm to Lucia and her friend. Of course, not while some of Elise's party would be scaring him into wriggling back into the arms of his trainer. Meanwhile, her Decidueye stood beside the child, fussing over his vanity and attempting to show off for some of the other Pokemon.

It was enough to make Lucia inwardly cringe.

"We'll protect you, Elise. Don't worry."

Elise Calcifet

☉

Like any good Gym Challenger, Lucia was hell bent on trying to find any way to get a head up on the competition for the upcoming battles against the best Hoenn had to offer. But unlike most youths, here Lucia was in the middle of arguably one of the most dangerous spots there was at the current moment.

Her teacher back in Blueberry had always said that it would be the end of her.

But fortunately, just as she stepped foot into the cave system alongside the one of only Josh Devlin, her eyes lit up at the sign of a gym leader. Unlike their last rodeo, she was far more peppy and elated.

"Wow, it's really you! Josh Devlin! This will be such an honor to do this mission with you!" Lucia said, calling out her Pokemon. The excitement of meeting an actual member of the gym leaders here was enough to pull her out of her more timid and quiet personality.

The child tossed out two pokeballs and in a flash of white, two Pokemon would phase into being beside her.

The first was a Decidueye, letting out a vain cry as a wing went over to fix the hood and quill that sat on top of his head. He took a bow to Josh and his team while his partner would then be the second Pokemon to show themselves.

A Zeraora, fresh out of the Tournament. Volt was Lucia's newest member of the team and ready to go kick some ass! The electric type was a bit smaller for its species but would no doubt be a big help in terms of what he could do.

"I'm ready when you are, Mr. Devlin! I'll show you what the best of Blueberry Academy can do!"

Josh Devlin

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