Lauren

**Lauren** (Japanese: **ローレン** *Rauren*) is a Pokémon Trainer hailed from Commerce City in the Kanto region. She is a student of the Pokémon Tech school, and is considered as a "senior" due to her long-tenure in the school.

## **New Era**

### **Background**

Lauren had been a student of the Pokémon Tech school from a young age, and was a student around the same time as Dwayne, even sharing some classes with him. While Lauren's time at the school was seemingly uneventful, she was the key factor in Dwayne dropping out, as she (unknowingly) made Dwayne's time at the school a living nightmare. Once she learned that Dwayne had dropped out, unaware of the reason behind it, Lauren was both saddened and worried, having long realized that Dwayne had great potential in becoming one of Pokémon Tech's greatest students, but also feeling whether something happened to force him to leave.

### **Indigo Challenge**

When Dwayne, at this time traveling throughout Kanto to challenge the Pokémon League, returned to Pokémon Tech to assist a young student Wes in dealing with his classmates, Lauren witnessed Dwayne's battle against Wes, where Dwayne's Ralts easily defeated Wes's Nidorino. Lauren walks in and chastises Wes for forgetting that Ralts was also a Psychic-type Pokémon, which was super-effective against a Poison-type like Nidorino, and calls him an embarrassment to the school. Hearing Lauren's voice causes Dwayne to take a step back, with memories of his awful time at the school flooding in, but quickly realizes that Lauren wasn't as "scary" as he remembered, and wonders why he was so scared of her. Lauren continues to upbraid Wes, and threatens to withdraw the help of the other students. Seeing this, Dwayne overcomes his fear of her and stands up against her, calling her an awful person. Lauren then says that it was good to see him again, but Dwayne rebuffs her comments, sarcastically remarking that he couldn't say the same, and with a pure tone of disgust in his voice, states she hadn't changed at all. Lauren seems offended by his comments and angrily asks him what he meant by that, and Dwayne says she knows very well what he meant.

Dwayne then challenges Lauren, saying crushing her in battle was something he'd been looking foward to in years, and that Lauren's beauty was only on the outside as she rotten and "ugly" on the inside, and Lauren becomes shocked at Dwayne accidentally calling her beautiful and after momentarily blushing, she regains her composure and accuses him of being jealousm, saying he wasn't "tough enough" to handle the school's strict teaching system. Dwayne brags that he has two Badges, and Lauren insults him. When Dwayne reveals that he has been on his quest for a month, she snidely remarks that most beginners have six Pokémon, and she attributes his two Badges to luck. She is also surprised that he chose Ralts as his starting Pokémon, as they are known to be rather weak and defenseless. Her mockery and laughter angers Ralts, mostly because of Lauren's mockery towards Dwayne instead of herself, and Dwayne demands a battle.

In response, Lauren summons Graveler. Dwayne calls for a Magical Leaf attack, but Graveler deflects it with Rollout, much to his dismay. Lauren orders Graveler to use Rock Polish to increase its Speed, but Ralts responds by teleporting around Graveler. Graveler tries to aim its Mega Punch at Ralts, but her quick teleporting makes him unable to land a hit. Finally, Ralts catches Graveler off-guard with a Confusion before knocking him out with a close-range Magical Leaf. Lauren is taken aback by the loss and returns her Pokémon. She is amazed that Ralts won despite her Graveler's experience and durability, as noted in textbooks.

Dwayne then angrily calls out Lauren, saying that she would never become a great Pokémon Trainer by relying solely on textbooks and simulations, and says that defeating her was something that he'd been looking foward to in years, and mocks her by saying that despite all her talent and intelligence, she couldn't defeat a "newbie". Lauren lowers her head and admits that Dwayne was a very skilled Trainer, and apologizes for her rudeness, but Dwayne refuses her apology, which takes Lauren by surprise, and Dwayne claims that all her years of abuse towards him couldn't be solved with a simple apology, and Dwayne promptly storms off, loudly exclaiming that he never understood why he was always terrified of her, since she was pathetic. Dwayne's harsh words cause Lauren to fight back tears, but as she herself notes, not due to the fact that Dwayne insulted her, but rather due to the fact that Dwayne leaving the school years earlier was entirely her fault and becomes apalled at the fact she had caused Dwayne so much fear and pain during his time at the school.

She runs up to him, frantically apologizing, stating that all her years of abuse towards him was her way to try and make him stronger. Dwayne angrily questions her logic, and Lauren explains that she was raised in the same manner that she treated him, which catches Dwayne off-guard. Lauren explains that her parents were extremely strict, and often diciplined her with "tough love", threats of grounding, and punishments, all in the hopes of making her "stronger" and mature quickly. Lauren came to genuine believe that she was helping him by using the same methods that her parents did, and because of the school's prestigious nature, and how difficult and tasking it's curriculum was, Lauren genuinely never noticed that her tactics were seem as bullying, and begs him for forgiveness, and says that even if he didn't accept it, she wouldn't stop working to prove that she wasn't the "monster" Dwayne thought she was.

Despite still not completely forgiving of her, Dwayne shows sympathy towards her, and tells Lauren that he couldn't imagine growing up with parents such as hers, and understands why she would think her tactics were normal, but admits that her decision to "target" him caused great fear and anxiety, and Lauren says she focused on him because she saw great potential in him, and believed that Dwayne would become the greatest student in the history of Pokémon Tech, but after he abruptly dropped out, she was both disappointed and worried, assuming that something happened to make him leave, but never figured out it was her. Dwayne says that she indeed was the reason, to which Lauren apologizes again, but Dwayne says that it was fine, as after seeing her again after all these years, his fear of her was already gone, and says that despite them having a long way to go, they could eventually become friends, but it would take a while for Dwayne to "heal" from his past. Lauren says that she would her hardest to make up to him, and Dwayne says he appreciated it. As Dwayne prepares to leave the school, Lauren hands him a homemade lunch she cooked herself, saying that she hoped to be of some assistance towards him, even in the slightest. Dwayne thanks her, and Lauren wishes him luck on his Gym battles, and vows to cheer him on at the Pokémon League. Dwayne thanks her, before leaving as Lauren and the other students wave him goodbye.

Lauren, Wes, and their classmates were later seen watching the Indigo Plateau Conference through the television, with Lauren keeping her promise of cheering for Dwayne during his performance.

## **Character**

According to Dwayne, Lauren was an extremely unfriendly, harsh, strict, mean-spirited, arrogant, self-entitled, and "monstrous" individual, being the key factor in Dwayne ultimately dropping out of Pokémon Tech. While some of Dwayne's comments about her personality being true; her harsh and strict demeanor, Lauren, in reality, isn't necessarily the "evil" individual that Dwayne spent most of his life believing she was.

While Lauren's methods of encouraging others were seem as mean-spirited, bordeline bullying, she genuinely believed her methods were the correct one, stemming from her own childhood, as her parents used the same methods towards her, and she grew up believing they were the norm for any other children. Lauren believed that harsh scolding, and belittlement were positive ways to motivate her classmates and peers, believing they used her negative comments to push themselves to improve, never realizing the pain and hurt she caused with her words.

After being confronted by Dwayne, who finally revealed the truth behind him leaving the school, and learning that she was the cause behind all of his years torment, Lauren broke down emotionally, with the sudden realization that Dwayne's torment was entirely her fault causing her to feel deeply ashamed of herself, and vowed to work herself and become the opposite of the person Dwayne always believed she was, with the hope of them eventually becoming friends.

## **Pokémon**

### **On Hand**

Graveler's known moves are Rollout, Rock Polish, and Mega Punch.