Zaria Brightly
"Wrong!" Tim interjected. He regretted saying it as soon as the words left his mouth, but it was already out there now. "Butterfrees are adorable... I mean... aren't rangers supposed to appreciate all Pokemon?”
Zaria was taken aback by Tim; his reaction was not one she had expected. "Well I never said I didn't appreciate them-" she wanted to defend herself. After all, wasn't it a matter of opinion? She wasn't going to go out and hurt Butterfree just because she thought they were creepy. Normally she was better at spitting out responses, but she was unsure how she felt, as the statement made her feel quite guilty. So would she be a bad ranger if she didn't like every single pokemon? But as she was working it out in her head, before she could say anything else, Troy interjected.
"Not necessarily. Their job is to protect all Pokemon, but they need only appreciate the most useful pokemon available to help them do their job."
Wait, she hadn't expected him to be on her side, if she could have even called it that. But wait. She squinted, thinking. She still didn't quite resonate with what Troy said either. They don't need to appreciate pokemon that are only useful to them, right? I don't think or feel that way. I think rangers just need to be... Troy continued. Zaria kept thinking.
"Butterfree tend to be less useful than Venomoth in battle, though I'm not knowledgeable enough to say whether that translates to a Ranger's job or not."
How did he know whether Butterfree were better than Venomoth in battle or not? That didn't seem completely right, yet he spoke it as if it were absolute truth. To Zaria, Troy seemed too sure of himself, to the point of arrogance. So when he mentioned he had seen 'countless' shiny pokemon and how his daddy had so many shinies, she'd had enough. Ugh, quit acting like such a know-it-all! It was stressing her out, especially his 'suggestion'. What was she even supposed to trade with in the first place? What had been the point of that bogus advice she clearly could not act on? Just ignore it. he's full of himself.
When the conversation moved- as conversations tended to- over to Tim and his aspirations, there were some other points of discussion. Zaria chimed in when she had the chance, eager to share her own thoughts, if only because they kept rattling around in her head, insistent to come out and be heard.
"I think you could get a lot of jobs just raising pokemon for companionship, focusing on making sure they're happy and healthy. I had a neighbor who was elderly, and she had a support pokemon from a breeder, an Ivysaur. He was just incredible with how much he helped her around the house. And his senses were incredible, she never fell when Ivy was by her side... Even if he was kinda dumb looking," she added. "Okay, don't crucify me for saying that. It's an opinion! Having an opinion and not respecting pokemon are different things. Just because I think a pokemon might be ugly, doesn't mean I don't appreciate them. I'm just sayin' it how it is. But it's not just about which ones are the most useful, either! Hear me out."
Zaria paused, hoping to be heard.
"For rangers, I feel like 'appreciation' is more about understanding ecological niche. Butterfree are important pollinators, and they play a huge role in feeding the entire world. Even though a forest may have hundreds of pokemon, those pokemon populations affect environments in unique and important ways. There's a balance, a cycle, and rangers have to acknowledge pokemon under that context more than anything. They're stewards of the wild. I definitely appreciate that."
She shrugged.
"So anyways, you can think Butterfree are cute but they're weird to me! I like big, strong, cool looking pokemon. If I'm going to be a Top Ranger, I'm gonna need a bunch of badasses like me," she laughed, trying to keep the mood light and upbeat. Still, she didn't realize that she had the tact of a Donphan when she spoke about pokemon so shallowly. Definitely something she'd need to work on, for sure, once she was self-aware enough.
