Palette

"Perhapse now it is best to look forward to the future..."

Depression

Childhood - [0 - 11]

From day one it was all wrong- so so wrong. Look at her, look at this gross purple... scorpion thing... Ugh and what came along with her? a pewny frail spider. It was one thing to think the Gligar was repulsive, but the mother couldn't bare to look at her own species either. It was likely rooted from self hate she already had for herself and looking at what she'd cooked up for the past couple months just disgusted her. They ruined her body further, they took months away from her life, and she was not going to let those months turn into years.

The twins were the product of a one night stand, father was nowhere to be seen and the mother, on top of already not wanting the kids, was young as it is. The pair were quickly dumped off on the mother's brother, a Pinsir named Nicolas. He wanted just as much to do with the children as his sister did, but alas he didn't have the heart to just... not take them. Thus, he was stuck with a set of twins and the mother took her leave for Tincaster, saying something about starting new somewhere else. He was admittedly disgusted by her neglected and at the time sworn to do better than his irresponsible sister. Though, that only held true for so long.

He too was a young man, only 23 at the time- and being as young as he was, with no knowledge as to how raising a baby girl, let alone TWO that weren't even his species, things became frustrating and stressful fast. By the time the girls were 3, he was at his wits end. His money was running short and he lacked the support of family himself- as before she left all he had was his sister. He'd been relying on friends for the first few years and had just been doing his best to not resent the girls. Lazuli and Lilo were well behaved babies, both quiet and mostly just slept a lot, but that didn't mean they didn't have their moments. Waking up at night, being needy for attention, Lazuli needing sand and Lilo needing constant hydration- it was draining, and Nicolas had finally reached a point where his resentment for the toddlers was bubbling up over his limits.

By the time they were 4 he was breaking down and yelling at them whenever they themselves would break down, he couldn't take it anymore, he was tired and stressed- he didn't want to hurt them or scare them, he wanted them to have a good life but that wasn't something HE could provide. Not now, not in the place he was in at the time. The decision killed him inside, he didn't want to put these poor girls though an adoption system, but he didn't have any other options to turn to at this point. He left them at the Sea Song orphanage, and with that he got himself a new job on the water and did his best to avoid the city when he could. The guilt ate him up inside, he couldn't see them again.

And that brings us to Lazuli, or, at least when he life really began to take hold of her. Before her uncles melt down things were simple, bouncing between babysitters, spending the nights with uncle, eating, sleeping, etc- though his outbursts at the end of her time with him made her a bit skittish at the time- the same could be said about Lilo. Lazuli typically kept to herself, she didn't really want attention, but she wasn't one to reject it (at the time).

The orphanage wasn't so bad, it was highly religious, worshipping the tapus- the caretakers were kind and the kids were relatively in good spirits. Lazuli, on the other hand had a hard time connecting with them- she mostly stayed close to her sister, but even that ended up changing the day Lola was adopted. Lazuli was 6 at the time when the only family she had left was taken from her- the couple interested in adopting her didn't have the funds to take two, and Lazuli was the one left alone. She shut herself off from her peers after that, spending most of her time at her bed or outside in the yard. This continued as she got older, the only time she'd let herself socialize had really just been during holidays and celebrations involving the Tapus, otherwise, she had no one. Watching her peers get adopted left and right only pulled her further from socialization, it didn't help that all her schooling happened within the orphanage so avoiding people only continued to be very easy for her.

Teenage - [12 - 17]

By the time she was 12, she was the oldest kid in the home- she didn't... understand it... Maybe she was too standoffish, or she was just ugly, had a bad attitude- she really wasn't sure, and in a way she didn't really care. Part of her didn't want to be adopted... she was so familiar with the orphanage and her caretakers she just... didn't want to deal with change. Though, change ended up coming much quicker than she would of liked.

The home didn't exactly get the best funding ever, and by the time Laz was 14, they wanted her to be doing odd jobs whenever she could, and generally just stock up on money early so she was ready to move out when she was of age. Small jobs turned into a part time job, and a part time job turned into a full time job by the time she was 16. She was merely making clothes at the time and it ended up paying well enough for her to be ready to move out by 17. She lived in a run down little one room apartment alone, and the day she moved in was the day things truly started to fall apart for the lonely bat.

Adulthood - [18 - 0]

Work was nice.. her boss was... okay, not mean but not very social either- Lazuli didn't have to deal with people but she did have the option to talk to her co-workers if she wanted to, or even just listen to their conversations while they worked. Being around people gave her energy... even if she needed breaks from it now and then. Not being alone was reassuring, not really knowing these people or being their friends didn't change that for her either... she just wanted to feel like she existed, even if just in the moment. Thus, going home every night was painful. It was painfully quiet... painfully isolating, it was like she was walking into another world, a world where no one knew she existed- and honestly, even on the outside she wasn't sure if anyone knew who she was. Lazuli had been depressed for a long time, though, it'd never been a serious road block in her life- not like how it was becoming.

Waking up in the morning kept getting harder... What was she working for? What was she accomplishing? What was she living for? Every path her saddened mind took lead to Nothing. She wasn't eating regularly, when she was home she'd often break down, the silence was awful- god how she missed all the noise the orphanage had, there was at least SOMETHING to keep her mind off of. off of this.

She wasn't entirely sure what managed to give her the push she needed to take a new step in her life... She was 20 now, 20 and baffled by how she even got this far- chrise what was even driving her, work lost its spark of positive influence, and the only thing she had to look forward to were holidays where she could force herself to travel a bit to bring worship to Tapu Fini- but even that was lonely. She chocked it up to be a radio show she'd listened to at random one night, talking about Tincaster and its lively working city. Sea Song was lively, but god she never felt like she belonged. Colorful, happy, positive, filled with water and pretty people- and what was she? An ugly bug bad hybrid ground type with the attitude of a wet rag and the drive of a dying cow. And in a way, that's what made Tincaster stand out to her... A big loud dirty city filled with dirty people who just wanna get big or make enough money to go somewhere they can live their life.

Lazuli didn't want to rot under the sun and salt water of Sea Song (surprisingly enough to even her), she wanted SOMETHING, ANYTHING to make the silence stop, she just wanted a life something new and fresh and maybe even something she could hold on to. There was no going any lower than she already was- and so, she got herself a ferry ticket down to Ruby.

Tincaster was... different. Definitely lively, but in a far different way than Sea Song, people seemed colder, either trying to escape poverty or make it big one way or another. She both parts felt lost, and at home, oddly enough... It was weird, but she'd take what she could get. It didn't take long for Lazuli to find herself a surprisingly sizely apartment, it running a surprisingly cheap price thanks to the rat problem it had- that, she really couldn't care about. So then began the job hunt.

Suprise suprise, job hunting went pretty easy too- thanks to her ability to glide and simply hope between buildings, the was picked up by a mail delivery service, delivering all over the city and occasionally to Ruby Port. It was thanks to this job that she later met Liam, a dumb positive Zweilous that worked as a guide through Ruby Canyon. Over the time she worked with him, the two became, what he'd call friends, and she just kinda... ran with it. Later on they decided when he evolved he'd move in with her since he'd need more space, and when that time came- he did just that.

Having a roommate, and quite a social one at that, changed a lot in Lazulis life for the better. Although she was still hitting depressive lows quite frequently, they were never as long or as bad. Just having someone say good morning, or call and ask about her day really impacted her day, and made her feel a lot less alone. The two nearly spent 4 years together- going on little trips for Lazulis holidays, working together and just... hanging out, over that time she could comfortably call him her best friend- even if she generally kept that to herself.. It was nice, she was getting better, despite still being a bit cold outwardly.

But unfortunately, all good things come to an end.

Disaster - [0]

Without warning the world spiraled into distress- some kind of fight between whats said to be two legendary pokemon broke out in the sky above the region. Under normal circumstances, Lazuli would roll her eyes at the suggestion two real gods were fighting right over their heads- but the gravity of the destruction around her drowned her skepticism in an instant.

Rock slides, fires, a huge sand storm- it was... a lot. At the time it all started, Lazuli was out shopping- without hesitation she dropped her bag and tried radioing Liam- but, not surprisingly, there was no response. From there, she did her best to help out however she could, being a ground type made it easier for her to see through the intense sand storms blowing through the city, giving her an upper hand in helping people to safety. She herself managed to avoid too much damage, having fairly tough skin and quick reflexes saved her life that day, eventually finding her own hiding place hours into the storm, falling asleep out of pure exhaustion.

Post Disaster - [0]

When she finally woke up, the city was filled with the sound of people yelling, the disaster had ended but Tincaster was in shambles, and those who survived were doing all they could to set up shelters and dig out survivors. Lazuli found herself being ushered over to a medical tent after she emerged from her hiding place- she didn't protest... she was too... tired, and scared. She only had one person to care about, and yet she was worried to the point she felt sick, constantly trying to radio Liam despite knowing the towers were down. During the days she searched the city.. often distracting herself by helping with repairs and forcing herself to eat. She couldn't find him... She couldn't find Liam anywhere, the one life line she had left. Gone. And despite everything that happened, she knew he couldn't be dead... Hurt, sure, but not dead. The only thing she had to comfort herself with was telling herself he was just.. hospitalized or something, he must of done some stupid stunt to save people and got fucked up.

Little did she know, she couldn't of been more correct. After a week passed, she finally spotted him in the city- he was hard to miss after all, being a Hydragon. Without hesitation, she rushed to him, relief washing over her as she clung to him. However, that relief was quickly shadowed with dread when he spoke- "I'm sorry, do I know you?".

He had amnesia, the only person in her life had amnesia and remembered nothing, absolutely nothing about her. It hurt, it hurt so much- to the point where she almost just wanted to cut ties, give up all over again, but she knew she couldn't. He was in the same place as she was now, alone, and she knew he was just going to get himself hurt again if he went out in the world by himself. So despite her bitterness, she stuck around, doing her best to fill in the gaps of his broken memory.

Now without a home, the two were a bit stuck... They managed to make some money doing odd jobs around the city, while typically setting up camps at night doing their best to stay out of the way. Soon enough, word of 'mystery dungeons' began to spread... soon followed by guilds, organizations dedicated to rescuing anyone who may get lost in these newly forming mazes, even Tincaster was getting one. However, something caught the duos eye- or, well, Liams at least. Everstone City, making the claim that they would dedicate their guild to fixing the world... With such a big goal, Liam suggested he and her travel to Everstone and help! And, well, Lazuli having nothing better to do- had no reason to object. And so, the two went on their way- to help "fix" the world.