Lucki

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Off to the east Lucki could see a steep drop broken only by small ledges. Beyond it was Route 112, she remembered. Once she had the Heat Badge, she'd be going that way.

But for now, she and Keegan headed west, into Lavaridge.

"Hey, is that your squirtle?" mentioned a blue-haired girl passing them on the sidewalk, half-kneeling to get a better look at Silver. "A real cutie. Is she your pet?"

"No, my starter."

"Oh," the girl responded. She looked from Silver to Lucki. "You're a coordinator, then?" she asked.

Lucki was starting to get annoyed. "No, I'm a trainer."

The other girl stood back up. "What? But –" she gestured towards Silver, "- it's obvious she's never going to be a fighter. There's no way she'll be able to keep up with trainer pokemon at the higher levels. You'd have to be insane to want to battle with her."

"Hey! Who do you think you are?" snapped Lucki. "Silver's no weakling! I challenge you to a battle!"

"No way," the girl replied contemptuously. "I'm not that cruel." She walked off, leaving Lucki seething.

"That bitch!" Lucki grumbled to Keegan. "Who does she think she is, acting like that!"

"Oh, just ignore her. She probably just lost a battle and has to feel she's better than somebody," he dismissed.

"Yes, but – ooh, I can't believe she'd insult Silver and I like that!" Lucki stalked off toward the pokecenter. "Like to see what she'd think of us getting our second badge. Bet she doesn't even have one!" Lucki ranted.

She was still annoyed by the time her pokemon had healed, although she'd settled down somewhat. "Alright, let's go to the gym!" she announced as soon as she got her two pokeballs back.

"Confident, huh?"

"I'll never know unless I try, right?" Lucki responded, trotting out. "Ooh, hot springs!" They were passing large pond-sized pools of bubbling water, with people lounging and swimming about.

"Yeah, Lavaridge is famous for the springs. It and Verdanturf are the two major health resorts of all of Hoenn."

"Right," Lucki replied. "I remember hearing about that. It's supposed to be good to sit in the springs or the sand, right?"

"Uh-huh, although I don't know how true it is."