"Excuse me..."

All heads whip towards the direction of the unfamiliar voice. A man wearing a hiking backpack and hood ran up to them, a catlike Loomian following close behind.

"I'm sorry for bothering you all, but you don't happen to be Loomian Trainers, yes?" He asks the group. Everyone but Mabel nods.

"Oh, good. I was walking along Route 8 when I came across this little Loomian. It's been following me ever since." He gestures to the cat Loomian behind him. Upon closer inspection, Nadia can see that it had big, black eyes, brown fur, and pink glowing orbs floating on its back. "Since you guys are trainers, I thought you could help."

Lucas lights up at this. "Oh, you mean one of us take care of it? Hmmm..."

Lucy lights up as well, gaze softening at the sight of the tiny Loomian. "Oh, it's so cute!" She gushed at it. The Loomian blinked up at her before looking somewhere else. "I wouldn't mind taking care of it."

However, the Loomian immediately bounds up to Mabel's feet and starts nuzzling its head. Mabel shrieks, though.

"Check it out, it likes you, Mabel!" Lucas laughs as Mabel freaks out at the Loomian showing affection to her.

"It's going to eat me, Lucas, why aren't you more concerned?!" Mabel shouted, trying to inch away from it, only to have it reattach to her leg.

"Oh, hush, you big baby," Lucy snaps. "It's just trying to sniff you."

"That doesn't look like sniffing to me." Musa bluntly states.

"Same difference." Lucy brushes her off. "Although, I have to agree with Lucas, it seems to be interested in you, Mabel."

"Ew, it licked me!" Mabel yelled when she felt the Loomian's tongue on her leg, jerking it away on instinct. Jake's eyes widen.

"Mabel," he starts, nudging Mabel's shoulder, "this opportunity is perfect for you."

"Huh? How?!"

"Remember when you said you were done feeling like a failure?" Jake asks her. "How you wanted to prove that to your mother?"

"Yeah...?"

"Well, I think this could be your next step towards that future." Jake suggests. Mabel looks back at the Loomian.

"Hm...I guess so." Mabel, steeling her nerves, crouches down to the Loomian's level, its dark eyes staring back into Mabel's green ones.

"I think you should accept it as your partner and become a Loomian Trainer," Jake continues, "It already likes you, and you can really use a companion Loomian."

Mabel sighs, the Loomian in front of her staring back in concern. "But...what if I mess up again...?" Her voice was barely audible. 

"So what?" Jake countered, prompting Mabel to look at him. "Everyone makes mistakes. It's natural for a trainer. In fact, it's part of being human."

"And besides, you learn from your mistakes too, so you can do better and avoid doing the same thing next time. People antagonize mistakes, but it's a good way to grow from." Zinx explained, causing Jake and Nadia to look at him in disbelief and astonishment.

"When the hell did you get philosophical?" Jake asks, inching towards Zinx and narrowing his eyes, and the latter shrugs in response.

"Well, anyway, the other thing they're saying is that you're not alone now, right, Mabel?" Musa continues for Jake. "You've had your best friends with you before, and now you've got us five. We'll help you if you need it. Yes, even Angel will cooperate." 

"Never said I wouldn't," The pink-haired girl quipped.

"I know your mother was tough on you and made you feel like you making mistakes made you a failure," Jake took the reins again, standing next to Mabel. "But now, we're the ones here for you, no matter what."

"Yeah! We're always here to learn with you, Mabel!" Lucas grins, and Lucy walks over and puts a hand on Mabel's shoulder. 

"We're not like your mom. You know we'll support you to the very end." Lucy gives Mabel a softer smile.

"Because honestly? Who cares what your mother thinks? You're your own person, aren't you? You shouldn't let what someone else's, let alone a family member's,  judgements weigh you down." Nadia crosses her arms over her chest, hoping her contribution helped at least a little.

"So how about it? Will you take this Loomian into your care and show your mother she's wrong?" Jake crouches next to Mabel, the latter's eyes welling up with tears.

"You guys..." She whispers, hands going up to her face and wiping at her eyes. "I...don't know what to say..."

Nadia was about to panic, but Mabel looked up at them, standing up straight with a smile. "I'll do it. I'll take care of it."

The group erupted into cheers, congratulating Mabel. The hiker guy smiles as well.

"Well, now that that's taken care of, I'll be on my way. Thanks for the help." The guy waves goodbye at them and walks off. Jake carefully lifts the cat Loomian up in the air, the Loomian looking back in curiosity and pawing at Jake's hands.

"So, what're you going to name this little one?" He asked, petting the Loomian with one hand and watching as it nuzzles into his gloved palm. 

Lucy taps her chin in thought, looking completely lost. "I dunno...I've never seen this species before."

"Is it like a really rare Loomian?" Lucas suggested. Mabel nods.

"It must be, if Lucy's never heard of it."

"Then how about you give it a nickname?" Jake adds on, Nadia nodding in the background.

"Oh. Um...okay." Mabel watches as the Loomian suddenly jumps from Jake's hands onto Mabel's arms. "Um...how about Jake?"

The pier goes silent. Nadia facepalms and Zinx suddenly snorts at the scene. Jake looks completely oblivious as to why Mabel decided on his name, and Lucy had just about enough.

"MABEL, PLEASE BE SERIOUS." Lucy yells into her ear, startling the little Loomian and Mabel narrowed her eyes at her friend before sighing.

"Fine...how about Starla?" She looked at the rest of the group for confirmation. She gets a couple nods from everyone, Lucy included.

"Yeah, that has a nice ring to it." Lucy lifted a finger towards Starla, who flinches away. "Whoops. I scared it. But Starla is a nice name, so Starla it is."

"Great! Mabel and Starla are partners from this day forward. You'll learn to battle together and eventually gather more Loomians by your side." Jake claps his hands together. Mabel smiles again at them.

"Thanks, guys. This means a lot to me. I'm already excited to start training!" She's not lying, Nadia can see the familiar sparks in her eyes.

"Well, we can help!" Lucas exclaims. "We'll start by fighting some wild Loomians, then we'll eventually battle each other for more experience. Sounds good?"

Mabel nods. "Yeah, I can do that."

"It sounds like we're finally ready to continue our adventure, then." Jake places his arms behind his head. "Let's prepare to travel towards Atlanthian City, and along the way fight any wild Loomian we come across."

"Right, we'll just need to cross the gate on the other side of Route 8."

"There's a resort here, if I remember correctly," Lucy quips. Jake nods.

"Yeah, a resort and a laboratory run by POLUT Corp. I checked and it's relatively safe." Zinx affirms this by saying that they let anyone who enters the lab check out the underwater lake for rare artifacts.

"We should check that out first!" Angel and Nadia are suddenly excited, urging both Zinx and Musa to check it out with them. Musa nods eagerly, excited to check out the lake, and the three of them look at Zinx.

"Eh, fine." He replies bluntly, earning a cheer from the others. 

"Are you coming along?" Nadia asks the other four, who nod as well.

"Might as well, it'd be cool to explore underwater." Lucas stated. "Speaking of which, there's a fishing shack with a private pond as well."

"Ah, before I forget about fishing," Jake fishes out four fishing rods from his items, no pun intended. "Here you go. If you ever want to fish for Loomians."

"Ooh, thanks!" The original quad chorus, each choosing a fishing rod and putting it away.

"Well, now that that's settled, let's go to the lab!" Lucy cheers, and they all make their way to the laboratory, the dome-shaped building glowing faintly in the distance.