Astrid Hofferson

[Astrid's gear is being held by one of her pokemon as it clicks on, to reveal the last few moments of a pokemon battle. Astrid is standing on the edge of the Saffron city gym, and in the middle, her Sentret, Fuzzball, bouncing in front of her as it faces off against Sabrina and her Alakazam. It looks like the fights been going for a bit, and Fuzzball darts forward at a shouted command from Astrid.]

[There's a gout of fire from the Sentret as it uses flamethrower, and the Alakazam collapses in a heap, leaving the Sentrat the winner! Astrid lets out a little victory shout, and across the arena, Sabrina just sits down in shock, her eyes wide.]

You beat me with a Sentret.

[Astrid is grinning as Fuzzball flits over and settles on her shoulder.]

Looks like it.

[Sabrina doesn't really acknowledge her at all, she's just staring at her defeated pokemon in a daze.]

You beat me with a SENTRET?

[More puzzled this time, and Astrid isn't grinning at this point, she just looks annoyed.] 

Yeah, I did. Fuzzball's amazing. Can I have my badge?

You...beat me with a Sentret. I...just...I can't believe it.

[Astrid glances over at her pokemon and then back at Sabrina in an 'is this normal?' sort of way.]

Well, it happened, so I need-

[Sabrina suddenly hurls the badge and winnings across the arena with her powers, and Astrid has to dive to catch them.]

Just take it and go!

[Is shouted at her by the gym leader, who otherwise is still just sort of staring at her poor, defeated pokemon. Astrid makes a hurried retreat out of the building, snatching her gear from her pokemon as she goes. When she's outside, she looks at the screen and grins, but it's a bewildered grin.]

...So I got my Saffron badge. ...Is she always like that?

[When the camera clicks on, Astrid is sitting on a chair, with her sentret perched on her shoulder, tail hooked around the Viking teen`s neck. In the background, a growlithe pup and her axew are chasing each other in circles. Astrid is stuffing things into her bag, and after a few seconds she glances up at her phone. She looks...worried, honestly. And tired. And she doesn't seem to have any idea what to say. After another moment, she sucks in a breath.]

Hiccup`s gone.

[She says this rather matter-of-fact ly, and continues to talk as she resumes packaging.]

I was told people disappear. But Hiccup had been here for months, he said. I didn't think...[She shakes her head.] It doesn't matter.

[Another pause as she stuffs some more things into her bag, and her sentret climbs up onto the top of her head, prompting the girl to reach up and lift her off, setting her down on the floor. The little pokemon bounces up on her tail to stay in the frame.]

...I guess I'm going to head back to Violet. I wanted to get the gym badge there, and I...[She hesitates.] No reason to keep waiting around here.

[She reaches out to pick up her gear, looks like she might say something else, then shrugs and turns it off.]

[It's hard to tell exactly where Astrid is when she turns her gear on, but there are trees around, and her Axew is visible resting against one behind her, keeping watch over two pokemon eggs. (She hasn't really gotten the hang of keeping them in pokeballs yet, it seems...mean.) Her attention isn't on them though, she's looking at the screen almost thoughtfully.]

I've been trying to get the hang of all the...little things here, so I decided to try and catch one of the wild pokemon running around on the paths. Which worked, except...

[She turns her camera around to reveal a Sentret happily sitting on the ground in front of her, bouncing up and down on her tail as she watches Astrid.]

I just picked it because it was the first one I found. And now I've caught it and I'm...not really sure what to do with it.

I mean...[She turns the camera back to her.] There are dragons here. And fire breathing dogs, and electric vermin, and so many other powerful looking creatures...

[She turns the camera back to the Sentret, who seems quite happy to be the center of attention.]

Then there's her. ...She looks like something babies sleep with. Or something bigger, stronger animals like to eat.

Do people really train these?