>>55033025In the following months Rouka spent lots of her free time with Jynx. Probably out of guilt. Whenever they would see a trainer Rouka would walk the other way to avoid them. Jynx tries pulling her towards them but Rouka is adamant about not battling. One day the kid they beat on that first day challenges her to a rematch and she calmly states "sorry I'm not a pokemon trainer." Jynx is heartbroken.
Jynx has grown cold and distant from Rouka and wont respond when she speaks with her or when she comes home from school. Rouka tries to ignore this and get along with Jynx but nothing is working. She eventually confronts Jynx and states. Jynx loves to battle. And it was wrong of her to hold her back because of her own fears. She apologizes for not taking her seriously and dedicates herself to becoming a pokemon trainer.
From that point on Rouka begins to take pokemon battling more seriously. She starts reading battle mags instead of fashion mags and studying type matchups and strategy in class. She learns about holding items and abilities and realizes for the first time that Jynx is an ice type. By the end of her senior year her priorities have completely changed. When time comes for her to graduate she tells her parents she wants to set off on her own pokemon journey. Her parents wanted her to go to Celedon university but they have never seen her so passionate about anything in her life and give her their blessing.
Before leaving she decides to test her skill against Erika and her knowledge of type advantage allows her to absolutely decimate that gym. She gets her first badge. The rainbow badge. She takes a selfie with Erika to commemorate this moment and gets the idea to have an adventure story told through her Insta photos.