Prologue.
Champion Lupe has returned home and refuses to speak to anyone for a month after becoming the Champion of Galar.
She cut herself off from the world due to her friends and rivals Hop, Leon and Marnie having stopped talking to her entirely. Once Hop was reported missing she suddenly starts to travel quite often from town to town in a seemingly random order via Flying Taxi. The media seems skeptical of her but her fans defend her valiantly. She only speaks to her father and one Cabby in particular.
*Lupe climbs into her cab after a few trips expecting a quick take off as usual. It is late at night. The cab does not take off. The Cabby takes a seat next to her inside the passenger car.*
Cabby: So what’s with all this traveling, Lass?
Lupe: Trying my hand at pokemon breeding. *She smiles*
Cabby: Oh? Well how’s it going?
Lupe: Good. *Her smile shrinks a bit as she begins hugging her brightly colored suitcase on her lap.* But that’s all I can tell ya.
Cabby: Why’s that?
Lupe: It’s a secret. *She winks at him.*
Cabby: *Chuckles* Alright then, my lips are sealed, Ms. Champion.
Lupe: *Nods silently*
*The Cabby climbs out and the taxi takes off soon after.*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lupe stops traveling back and forth between Route 5’s Nursery and the Nursery in the Wild Area. She takes an unexpected trip to Circhester from Motostoke. She rode her bike from the Wild Area to Motostoke.
*Yet again Lupe is sitting next to her favorite Cabby.*
Cabby: There’s no Nursery in Circhester. Are you sure you’re giving the right directions?
Lupe: I know. Trust me.
Cabby: *Gives a questioning look with some surprise mixed in.*
Lupe: Just keep this a secret, please. *She twiddles her thumbs a bit.*
Cabby: *Sighs* Alright, Lass.
*The taxi flies off soon after.*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lupe does some shopping from town to town, taking Taxis for the most part. She stopped at a Pokemon Center to place the majority her Championship team into their own box in the PC. She only carries her Inteleon with her at the time.
*The Cabby sits next to Lupe once again.*
Cabby: *Worried* Lass...Where are your Pokemon?
Lupe: Hm? *She seems almost surprised.*
Cabby: You only have a single pokeball on your hip. You usually have your entire team of six.
Lupe: *Pauses for a moment, before smiling.* They’re resting.
*The Cabby gives her a strange look, but feeling defeated, decides to not press the issue any further. The Taxi heads to Motostoke from Hammerlocke soon after.*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lupe goes and has a private appointment with a hairstylist. She gets hair extensions, color contacts, and hair dye treatments. She goes from a pearly blonde with grey eyes to a light brunette with almost crimson eyes. From there she goes to a changing room and changes into her new clothes. She puts on red piano framed glasses, a grey beanie, a white and red shirt, a light grey hoodie, dark grey jeans, and transfers her stuff to a maroon leather bag. She has her old clothes and bag shipped to her home in Postwick with a letter to her Dad. She also gets a new trainer card printed.
*Lupe is standing at the agreed meetup point with her phone open, waiting for her Taxi to arrive. A Taxi passes by a couple times. It finally lands and the Cabby approaches her.*
Cabby: Ma’am, you haven’t seen the Champion around, have you?
Lupe: You’re looking at her.
Cabby: *Laughs* Alright! If so let me see your trainer card, then.
Lupe: *Hands him her new trainer card*
Cabby: Ha! Yeah. No you aren’t her Ma’am.
Lupe: Flip it over.
Cabby: Hm? Alright then… *he flips it over and stares in disbelief. He looks at Lupe then back at the card.* Wait…
Lupe: *Walks up to the Taxi and sits down inside*
Cabby: *Takes a seat next to her and speaks quietly, his tone soaked in worry.* Lass. You don’t look like yourself.
Lupe: I know… *She hugs her leather bag tightly to her chest. Her voice has a tinge of sadness.*
Cabby: I'm concerned, Lass. What’s all this about? Is it because of-
Lupe: I’m hiding. *Her voice is tense.*
Cabby: Hiding? From what?
Lupe: I...don’t know. Just. Hop wouldn’t run off like people think he did. Not to mention, Leon hasn’t been on the grid recently either.
Cabby: What are you saying, Lass?
Lupe: Someone isn’t happy with what happened before the championship battle on the night that strange Pokemon attacked Leon, Hop and I. They aren’t happy at all.
Cabby: Then get help. The police or-
Lupe: That’ll just make me a bigger target. Just… *She smiles faintly* Keep this a secret.
Cabby: Alright, Lass. *He sighs heavily, stepping out of the passenger car*
Lupe: Thank you.
*The Taxi takes off in silence, landing in Postwick. The sun is starting to rise.*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lupe uses her spare key to come into her house while her father was out grocery shopping with his Munchlax. She walks into her room with a sigh, seeing that her father opened the package and read her letter. The letter was crumpled up on the floor next to the package that was sitting on her bed.
Next to the package to her father is a pokeball with a note attached to it. Lupe reads the note, seeing it was a present from Leon. Inside the pokeball is a young Charmander. The note says something along the lines of “Thank you for the great battle!” but on the back is scribbled “Leon would have wanted you to have this, Lupe. I apologize that he couldn’t give it to you in person.” Lupe assumes it’s from his and Hop’s mother.
Lupe walks out the door with a heavy heart and sets out with her new identity.