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She’s six years old, practicing at Mt. Mortar, and is the most hardworking girl anyone’s ever seen.
Not to her surprise, of course. Crystal’s wanted to learn capturing since before she knew walking, so when the opportunity to train came around, she couldn’t be turned away for reasons like age or immaturity. The world waits for no one, as they say, so she won’t wait until she’s “ready.” She’ll be ready on her own time, thank you very much.
Her body thinks otherwise, unfortunately. Barely an hour into the day, her arms show signs of fatigue and soreness. The preparations she made prior to arriving were minimal; some sandwiches, a water bottle, and a map to head back to Mahogany Town when it was dark. “Nothing for physical remedying,” she thinks, so she eats a sandwich, drinks some water, and gets right back at it.
This pain is simply part of the grind, the means to the end, after all. Every ball thrown, every target hit, it’s all towards a dream, a goal, a destiny. Capturing is not the easiest thing to aim to be the best at when it’s a skill that every trainer must have. She heard that Red, the best trainer in Kanto, caught his first Pokemon when he was a baby. Chumee was a gift from mom, so if anything, she’s late to the party.
The sun continues to rise, its scorching heat reminding her to endure, endure, endure. Sweat slides down her face and drips off of her head. Her shoulders ache. Both arms sting, whether from the overuse or sunburn, she doesn’t know, but she can’t make herself care enough to determine. It doesn’t matter–none of it does. She is here to capture, and if she doesn’t come back able to do so, she will have failed, and she can not–
Something growls, Crystal turns around, and she’s greeted by a not-so-friendly face.
“Eeek!”
She tries to turn back to pick up Chumee and run from the Arcanine, but the ground of Mt. Mortar is rugged and dirty. Luck (or is it fate) is not on her side today; her ankle slips on a pebble and she trips. She’s falling, falling like her dreams of capturing anything, falling like her peers’ expectations of her, falling like her entire image of a person who pushed and achieved. Crystal tumbles deeper and deeper into the cavern, until her arms hit the ground with a crack and her head makes contact with the rocks and she breaks.