Backstory:
Frances was raised on Akala Island in the Alola region. She lived with her aunt and younger cousin and was given a modest but comfortable upbringing. As a child, she was quite taken with the Pokemon battles she saw on TV. Unfortunately, her family did not have enough money to invest in a powerful Pokemon team and battle gear. Fanny knew this, and dreamt of working her way up from the bottom.
At the age of eleven, Fanny partook in the Island Challenge, as was expected of all children in the Alola region. She received her first Pokemon, Sandile, for free from a Pokemon breeder in Ula’ula island; it was a newly hatched specimen that did not live up to the highly competitive standards of the breeding industry. Although he was not deemed worthy of the highest level of competitive battle, “Sobek” was still a well bred Pokemon with a powerful fighting instinct. Fanny was confident that she could go far with Sobek’s potential.
Fanny surmounted the first trial with relative ease. This victory, while only the first step in the path towards completing the Island Challenge, pleased her greatly. It was evidence that, perhaps, there really was a chance that she would eventually become a top level trainer. However, her celebration was short-lived. Sobek was utterly outmatched by the powerful water Pokemon of the second trial.
Fanny attempted the trial several times, and only came close to winning once. Sobek had managed to fight his way to the very end of the trial, where he faced off against the gigantic totem Wishiwashi. The huge Pokemon had no problem shrugging off the little Pokemon’s bites and scratches, and was comfortably winning the battle‒until something happened. Wishiwashi landed a particularly powerful blow on Sobek, which sent the poor Sandile flying backwards. As Sobek staggered to his feet, Fanny immediately realized that something was wrong. The Sandile’s eyes had flared red, and it seemed as if every muscle in his body was tensed to its very limit.
Before Fanny could even comprehend what she was seeing, Sobek was on Wishiwashi, ripping savagely at the totem’s flesh. As she watched foam and blood fly from her Sandile’s snapping jaws, Fanny was reminded of a rabid Houndoom. It scared her.
Wishiwashi was eventually able to defeat Sobek. Later, as Sobek was getting healed at the Pokemon Center, Fanny confessed to the nurse about the strange incident during the battle. The nurse reassured her that it was perfectly normal‒for a Pokemon with Anger Point as its ability.
Fanny was eventually able to pass the second trial after coming to the realization that with Sobek alone, the matchup was impossible. After bartering with other trainers for a new Pokemon, Fanny was eventually able to purchase a wild caught Beldum for relatively cheap (as non-bred Pokemon usually were). With “Nugget” on the team, Fanny was able to scrape by the water trial and continue on her journey.
After each trial, whether an easy victory or a hard won battle, Fanny grew a little more confident. She was starting to get a feel for her Pokemon and how they liked to fight, and was becoming adept at using each of them to their maximum potential. She was making it, one battle at a time. By the end of the sixth trial, Fanny was feeling better than ever.
That day, everything changed. As Fanny and her two Pokemon emerged from the abandoned Megamart, jubilant over their victory, a great hole opened in the skies over Alola. This was a day that would go down in legend: the day that the creatures known as Ultra Beasts descended over the Alola Region
Fanny didn’t encounter an Ultra Beast that day. Sometimes she wonders what would have happened if she did. Maybe things would have gone differently.
When the wormhole opened in the sky, wild Pokemon immediately began to flee for cover. Fanny’s last memories from that day were those of her and her Pokemon being struck by a flock of fleeing Pikipek. Everything that followed was a blur. There were foaming jaws and flaring red eyes. The sound of metal being broken apart and crushed. Tears of fear and confusion. And finally, the pain and sorrow of being shredded in the jaws of her best friend.
Fanny spent the next two years in the hospital, healing from her wounds. Luckily, her vital organs were relatively untouched, and the only permanent damage she had sustained were to her legs and left arm. It took months of physical therapy for these limbs to return to an acceptable level of functionality. In the end, Fanny considered herself lucky that she had managed to get off with nothing but scars.
Nugget, her Metang, had sustained far worse damage. Since he was a steel type, it was possible to reconstruct much of his shell, but it would be a long time before he was back to full strength.
Sobek was found defeated near the scene of the incident. Interestingly enough, whichever Pokemon that had managed to defeat him left him with heavy bite wounds, so no one suspected what had really happened. When Fanny was questioned, she claimed that she was attacked from behind and never got a good look at her assailant. She did not blame Sobek for what had happened, but resolved to find a way to protect herself in the future.
Fanny was often visited by her aunt in the hospital, and told her the truth. Her aunt was‒reasonably‒worried about allowing her to continue her career as a Pokemon trainer. After Fanny pleaded for her not to forbid her from battling, her aunt decided to allow her to continue on one condition: that Fanny would bring her Togekiss along with her for protection. “Hurricane” was a strong and experienced Pokemon with a perfect type matchup against Sobek, and could easily handle the Krokorok if things got out of hand again.
Once she was discharged, Fanny once again set out on the island challenge. But as she took on her first battle, she realized that things were not the same. Nugget was still a shadow of his former self; the synthetic metals grafted onto his shell were not nearly as strong or durable as Fanny had hoped. Sobek was healthy as can be, but he had lost all his zeal for battling; his attacks came out weak and half hearted. Fanny could tell that he was weighed down by guilt, and knew that there was nothing she could do about it. As for Hurricane, she was a Pokemon that Fanny hadn’t trained herself and could not be used in good faith.
This was the end of the road for Fanny as a Pokemon trainer. She was already two years behind, and with her Pokemon unable to battle properly, she had no source of income. So, with a heavy heart, Fanny laid down her Z-ring and went home.
For the next three years, Fanny took on small jobs throughout her home island of Akala. Income was meager, but she was able to manage since she was once again living with her aunt. Her Pokemon seemed content with their new peaceful lifestyle. Metang was happy to regain his strength through labor, and Sobek in particular seemed a lot less tense.
With adulthood on the horizon, Fanny finally decided to leave her home region for the industrial region of Galar‒the place from which her family originated. There, she managed to land a job as a Corviknight Taxi pilot, presumably because of her experience “training” the powerful flying type Hurricane. She was happy with this job; it paid quite decently, and gave her opportunities to learn more about the region’s people.
Sometimes, as she flew over the region on one of the Corviknights, Fanny would spot trainers battling each other with Rotom Drones acting as referees. She knew these battles to be World Coronation matches, and while she was already aware of the series, seeing battles like these on a daily basis made something stir within her. She was reminded of her old childhood dreams. Fanny reminisced that it had been five long years since her last battle. But maybe it was finally time to reopen the book on becoming a professional Pokemon trainer.