razz berry —— did your muse struggle to raise any particular pokémon on their team? which ones? / asked by @chercept
She certainly did; raising the Axew she caught in Mistralton Cave all the way to a Haxorus proved to be one of the most difficult (yet rewarding) experiences of her journey.
When Rosa first started training him, he was a runt, naughty by nature, and aggressively competitive. Due to his smaller-than-average size (and to him having been bullied in Mistralton Cave by a very quick-tempered Drilburr a few years before Rosa caught him), Maximus constantly felt the need to assert his dominance by challenging other pokémon and winning against them. He also didn’t get along very well with most of Rosa’s other pokémon except for her Darmanitan, Serafina, who was just always gleefully down to throw hands at a moment’s notice. Thankfully, Rosa’s ace, Rocco the then-Krokorok, surpassed him in sheer strength at the time and put him in his place whenever things got out of hand.
For a brief time period, Rosa considered giving up and benching him for a more cooperative member of her roster, but she also knew Maximus’s promising strength would be a huge asset in the latter leg of her gym challenge so she persevered. She was patient while handling him and always brought Rocco into their training sessions as a mentor figure of sorts. She had Serafina spar with Maximus often so he had an outlet for his pent-up energy, but she also tried to emphasize that all those around him were friends, not punching bags. More than once she found herself physically involved whenever things went south, which often led to her being covered in scratches and bruises, but she stuck with it.
The dedication and patience eventually paid off; Maximus grew to be a larger-than-average and extremely powerful Haxorus with a strong bond to the rest of his teammates. His fiery competitiveness is still alive and well, though Rosa can have him stand down in most situations and Rocco puts him in his place the rest of the time. He then went on to play a major role in several key battles during Rosa’s journey like the Opelucid gym challenge, the Plasma Frigate, and the champion match against Iris much later.