That question brought a smile to Natalie’s face. “Oh it took a lot of hard work. Travelling, learning. and plenty of growing in more ways than one. I guess I could tell you how I got here...”
You ever run away from home? Like a spur of the moment thing? That was what little Natalie was doing now. She had a pack full of stuff on her bag, the card her parents gave her to buy necessities, and her little Poochyena. Currently she was in Mauville. She didn’t have any destination in mind. She just... didn’t want to stay alone in her house anymore.
With no focus on a destination, Natalie found herself in front of the Mauville gym. Of course she knew about the league and badge gathering. Who didn’t? Gyms weren’t just for challengers. People could take seats off to the side to watch battles. With nothing better to do, Natalie went in to take a seat, Poochyena hopping onto her lap once she did. She held onto him as they waited for something to happen.
Soon a challengers faced Wattson. As Natalie watched, she noticed something. The jolly gym leader always had a smile, enjoying the losing just as much as the winning. Even at the end when he ultimately lost, Wattson was still so cheery as he gave out the badge. He seemed to have so much fun. There wasn’t anything particularly great about it. It just looked like fun to Natalie.
After the battle, Natalie went up to speak to Wattson. “Sir?” The old man turn to her and grinned, asking what he could do for her. “Why do you have so much fun battling even if you lose?” His next words were some she remembered well.
“The battle is secondary. When you and your pokemon work toward something together... how could you not enjoy it? Two friends working toward something greater. I couldn’t imagine a bigger joy! Win or lose, we still do our best and enjoy every moment. I live for that happiness.”
Natalie wanted to be happy... why not try battling? It started simple enough, trying against wild pokemon and eventually trainers. They were terrible at first. Natalie tried her best to get better just as Poochyena did! She read books, watched videos, asked others for tips and tricks, and much more. She even got a notebook and started filling it with important notes she learned. Bit by bit, the two grew in size and bond. It wasn’t long til they decided together to try to be the best team they could be. The best in the world! But they needed to see and learn more in other places...
Natalie looked down at the notebook she had taken out. It was beat up, the binding held together with duct tape in many places. Most the pages were filled with so many notes she had figured out with her pokemon. Looking to Calem, she smirked. “Something as simple as thinking ‘That looks cool’ can lead to big stuff. But if you don’t enjoy what you do... what is the point? If there is no joy, try something else. You’ll find something that clicks right.”