Was it the Lilycove Pokemon Center, that was infinitely better of a place than any of the ones in Orre?

  Was it the absolutely pristine beaches where she could absolutely rock her new bikini?

  Was it the gigantic department store for Trainers that Nysa could see even from here?

  Maybe it was all of the above, and more, that had her being so happy, and she didn't care, because the second they got to the beach, a couple hours after dropping most of their stuff off in their room, she jumped as high as she could and let out the loudest scream of joy she could possibly muster, negative attention be damned.

  Her Pokemon cheered. Both Zara and Floatzel were Pokemon that naturally thrived around water, after all, so being here – and honestly, Hoenn in general – was like a dream come true for them, just as much as it was for Nysa.

  'Oh, you guys, I'm so happy! Let's set up our spot properly!' Nysa proceeded to get out a beach umbrella and chair, and threw herself on it – maybe not the most stable thing to do to a chair, she noted mentally – laid back, sighed contentedly, and looked around her.

  Since this was September, the beach wasn't actually too crowded, as most people had gotten their fill of the beach earlier in the summer, which was fine with Nysa, since that meant she might even be able to take a small nap. Zara and Floatzel would protect her if she dozed off, after all, so no one could really sneak up on her to try anything.

  Also, there's less of those jerks who were giving me and big bro dirty looks in the Pokemon Center and on the ship. Like, how much free time do you even have that innocent tattoos could upset you? Ugh, she hoped that the friends she makes in this region wouldn't be such pansies.

  Zara squealed as she zoomed across the water. Meanwhile, Floatzel was floating on the water, using his flotation sac to do so, with closed eyes and a lazy smile to go with that. That was enough to make Nysa smile and let go of some of her annoyance.

  The girl sighed as she fully laid back and relaxed, her eyes directed up at the underside of the beach umbrella. Her mind started to drift to what she would be doing over the course of the next year. Even while relaxing, the instinct to think of 'what next' was still in her muscle memory, but that was just how it worked when you grew up in Orre, of all places. Or else, you die.

  She had already registered for the Hoenn Circuit. She had one year to collect eight Gym Badges from powerful Trainers across the region, then would be eligible to compete with people who had all gathered the same at something called the Ever Grande City Conference. If she won that, she would be able to challenge people called the Elite Four, one by one, and then have a crack at the Champion, the strongest Trainer in the entire region.

  Well, Nysa probably wasn't getting that far. Bro might, but if this was her first year as an official Trainer, she should probably just settle for getting into the Conference.

  Beyond winning matches, she really didn't care for much else right now. She was only sixteen, she didn't need to rush. There was probably big money from winning matches and tournaments, as well as whatever sponsors she could nab, so she could probably find a place to live in Hoenn that wasn't a Pokemon Center at some point. And by that logic, her brother definitely would, so worst-case scenario, she just bums around whatever place he would probably find.

  Speaking of sponsors, she had heard of those while doing a bit of research about Hoenn. Apparently, all regions had them, where companies would give you huge sums of money just for talking nicely about their product and doing well enough in Pokemon matches? That seemed too good to be true to Nysa, but hey, she'll take it.

  'Masssss!', Zara heard, followed by her body glowing green as she shot a Psybeam at the water beneath her.

  Wait, what?

  'Wait, Zara, stop!', Nysa yelled as she jumped up from her seat and ran toward the water. She didn't know all the rules about this beach, but she was pretty sure blasting wild Pokemon out of the water on said beach wasn't allowed.

  'Rain?' Zara tilted her head to the side, confused at why Nysa told her to stop.

  Nysa leaned in close. 'I know you might be used to letting loose, but not here, alright?', she said in a low voice. Zara nodded in understanding, while Floatzel chose that moment to snicker at her. He got a blast of wind to the face because of that and submerged under the water, but still came up laughing a few seconds later. Nysa sighed in relief, thankful that didn't escalate into a fight.

  'I already told you! No means no, assholes!'

  'You're just playing hard to get. Give it up already!'

  Nysa didn't even need to turn around to get angry and know what that was about. Rolling her eyes, she turned and saw two jerks who looked to be around her age following an irate girl with long, dirty-blonde hair down to just above her navel, in a red, high-waisted bikini.

  'You were clapping for us when we were beating all those Trainers in the Pokemon Center battle arenas, weren't you? Just admit you want us!'.

  Just as the girl was about to give a pissed off response, probably something along the lines of being nice not meaning that she wanted to suck them off, Nysa stomped over with Zara in tow.

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  She put herself between the now-surprised girl and the jerks. And yes, she was refusing to call them anything else in her mind.

  'Knock it off, losers. Want me to call the lifeguard?'. Nysa might've been shorter than them, but her attitude definitely added to her height. Probably.

  They both gave her arrogant smirks and gave her a once-over that made her want to hurl. 'Move aside. Mary is clearly enjoying her time with us, can't you see that?'.

  The girl behind Nysa, Mary, growled in anger behind her. 'I applauded you because I was trying to be polite. Both of you have only ever managed to get two Gym badges in two years. I gotta get better at being honest; for all your talk, you guys are trash, in multiple ways.'

  Nysa raised her eyebrows and smirked condescendingly at the losers. 'Wow, they must really be compensating for something, huh?'. Maya proceeded to nod insistently. 'I bet I could wipe the floor with them.'.

  The boys took one glance at Zara and then burst into laughter. 'Oh please, what can a worthless bug like that do? Want to battle one of us at the practice stadium in the Center?'.

  Nysa was pissed beyond belief. How dare they talk to her Zara like that?

  'Bring it, losers.'.

  ---------

  'Uh, you sure about this? If you're just about to start your journey, you might not be a match for them.', Mary said worriedly.

  They were in the Pokemon Center battle arena, with Nysa about to step into one of the battlefields. While Mary had changed back into regular clothes, along with the boys, Nysa was so pissed that she just stomped back to her room, threw all her beach stuff unceremoniously in it, and hurried back to the battlefield, still in bikini.

  A decent crowd had also gathered around where they were. Apparently, these two were well-known around here? Whatever.

  She'd dealt with pricks like this before, and she'd do it again.

  She turned her head back and winked at Mary. 'I'll be fine. I'm more experienced than my badge count lets on. Just sit back and watch, 'kay?'.

  Mary still looked uncertain, but nodded in response.

  'Are you done wasting time? Let's get this over with!'. Prick Number 1 already had his Torchic out, and was waiting.

  Nysa stepped up to the player box of the field, and the Kadabra they had gotten from the Nurse Joy put up the barrier around the entire field, surrounding the Zara and the Torchic.

  The second they were face-to-face, Torchic shrunk back a bit, as Intimidate kicked in. Already off to a great start, huh?

  She smirked at the loser. 'Ready when you are, nobody.'.

  He grit his teeth in anger. 'Torchic, use Ember!'

  'Dodge, then use Air Shield!'

  Everyone around her looked confused, as Zara swerved out of the way of the Ember, her translucent wings glowed white, and focused a continuously-running wind storm a decent distance around herself. It was meant to be used as a shield

  The jerk had already started to look a bit uncertain. 'Use Focus Energy, then Flame Charge! Make yourself so fast, that thing can't process you!'

  A thing? Ohoho, now he was absolutely getting crushed.

  Torchic cloaked itself in flame and, well, charged. It was definitely faster, but nowhere near where it needed to be to hit Masquerain, especially because it could fly. After a few more times of dodging, Nysa realized she wanted to show off Zara's shield, so she told Zara to take the attack. Combine the barrier with Intimidate, and you have a situation where Torchic proceeded to bounce off the wind completely and hurt itself when it hit the ground afterward, with Mr.Prick looking on in despair.

  Nysa's eyes widened and smiled hungrily, knowing she could go for the (figurative!) kill now.

  'Use Bug Buzz, finish this!'.

  Even though the Bug TE didn't usually mesh well in terms of damage against Fire Pokemon, Nysa knew Bug Buzz was a sound-type move, so that problem largely wasn't there in this specific case.

  Torchic grabbed their head in agony, then collapsed, clearly being unable to take anymore. Zara let go of Air Shield, and fluttered back to Nysa as the psychic barrier came down.

  Nysa petted Zara lightly, to which Zara hummed happily. She then turned to the assholes in front of her, who were now essentially trembling at what, to them, was an incredibly powerful display. 'Well, why are you still here? Get moving!'.

  Jerk Number 1 recalled Torchic, and the two scampered away so quickly that they almost tripped and fell over on their way out of the battling area. Ha! See you never, hopefully!

  The crowd then proceeded to cheer her on, amazed by what they'd just seen.

  Coming to Hoenn was supposed to be a fresh start, but being happy after kicking someone's ass could stay, right?

  Just then, Mary ran up to her excitedly. 'Holy shit, you're so good?! How the hell do you of all not have any Gym badges?'.

  Nysa grinned, happy at all the praise. 'Well, you tend to get experience whether you go looking for it or not in Orre. Plus, I've got an admittedly great teacher.'.

  Mary looked intrigued. 'If you're staying at the Center too, you want to get a meal together and talk more? I'm a trainer too, y'know.'.

  Nysa beamed, realizing she might've just made her first Hoenn friend. 'Sure!'