The city of Nimbasa was an interesting one. As one of the most advanced cities in all of Unova, one would certainly think that this place would be crawling with tourists. With the bright lights, busy streets and towering metal buildings, Nimbasa City had a special way of either awing visitors or making them feel very insignificant. Still, despite having a Gym Leader in town, the city relied heavily on the tourism generated by such attractions as the Pokemon Musical, the Unova sport teams and the famous ferris wheel to draw in that extra Poke. However, there was one thing that the tourism commercials did not mention about the lovely city in their television advertisements.

The place was crawling with thugs.

It was a terrible outbreak, truely. Every summer, bikers from across the region would swarm the area in search of free fun in the form of causing trouble. The residents of the fair city were more than sick of the unwanted foot-traffic, and it was certain that even Elsa herself had donated her hard earned time and talents in trying to drive them off. Still, every year those black jackets and noisy bikes would come rushing in through the streets and cause trouble. The local police had more than enough with the numerous gangs and their persistence, even to the point of hiring in a few specialists to deal with them.

However, their so called crackdown on the rough groups had done nothing to stop this little affair from happening.

Rosa just stared ahead with annoyance flashing in her light blue eyes. She had spent more than her fair share of time dealing with the gritty visitors. With her Pokemon by her side, she soon found that defeating the much older men in a battle not only gave her valuable experience in Pokemon battling, but it also seemed to embarrass them into leaving town for a day or two. It wasn't exactly ridding the place of the problem, but it was a start. Still, she was certain that she could handle this problem by herself...

If it weren't for the fact that her friend Curtis had decided to be such a gentleman and battle for her.

She was a bit taken aback from his proposal of 'handling these troublemakers' for her. Rosa hated to be hurtful to her green-haired friend, but she was much stronger than him when it came to Pokemon battling. Her Snivy had long ago evolved, and with it came the added bonus of better type coverage in his movepool. Curtis wasn't exactly a Rattata-user, but he was lower-leveled compared to her. Still, the brunette was willing to overlook it for the sake of his pride. The Trainer had taken a step back with her hands raised, letting the boy have his moment of glory in 'protecting her from these ruffians'. However, she wasn't so courteous as to remove herself from a battle entirely. Instead, her Servine was waiting in the shadows, eyes narrowed and searching for the moment when the Luxio might need aid.

And that was how she had managed to be standing here on the side of a street with a boastful Curtis ahead of her commanding a Luxio, and three bikers with Ekans waiting to give the boy a piece of their mind. The men had of course laughed at him, mostly from his off hair color—they weren't much to talk, seeing as they were bald. However, Curtis had remained standing and waiting to strike. Luxio batted the air with his tail, just as eager to attack.

"Curtis," Rosa whispered. The boy gave her a sideways glance, not wanting to ignore her but also wanting to keep his eyes on the opponents. "I don't think this is a good idea. Three against one is a bit difficult if you're on the same level as them." She tried to bite her tongue, only managing not to add that it was impossible if you were equal leveled.

The boy gave her a grin before motioning to his Pokemon.

"Luxio, Spark!" The Spark Pokemon let out a rumble before rushing forward to the Ekans in the center of the mass, fur glowing yellow with charging energy and teeth bared with excitement. The purple Pokemon had little time to react before the attack hit him head-on, forcing it backwards. Ekans slid back with a few sparks of yellow energy, its body quivering from the electricity rushing through its veins. Yellow eyes narrowed as the three bikers laughed and motioned across their throats.

The three Snake Pokemon grinned before rushing forward all at once, fangs glowing purple with poison. Rosa stood back with nervous hands, trying to resist the urge to jump in and fight alongside him. Three Poison Fang attacks against only one Luxio would surely result in a bad poisoning in critical condition and perhaps even a faint if Curtis was unlucky. Her Servine could hit them all with that lovely Earthquake he had learned last week. All she needed to do was wait for Luxio to move out of the way and she could—

The brunette shook her head in an effort to clear her thoughts. No, she had promised Curtis that he could face off against them, alone and uninterrupted. Even with the thought of how disappointed or even hurt her green-haired friend would be if she broke that promise, it was getting harder and harder to hold back. Her tennis shoes dug into the sidewalk as Curtis clenched his teeth and shouted for Luxio to dodge at least one of the attacks.

The poor Spark Pokemon jumped back in an effort to dodge only for his paw to be gripped in the oozing fangs of the Ekans he had attacked. Luxio let out a whimper before trying to shake his attacker off, eyes wild with pain and the fear of poison. The other two Snake Pokemon jumped in with what sounded like a laugh, pleased with their efforts. Black and blue fur soon disappeared under purple skin as they buried the Pokemon alive with their own bodies.

"Luxio!" Worry seeped out of Curtis's voice like the poison his Pokemon faced as he struggled to stay back. Blue eyes watched him race forward for his Pokemon only to struggle back, knowing that rushing in would get him poisoned as well. His green eyes looked broken, hopeless even. Rosa could tell just by looking at him that he was extremely worried for his partner.

She decided right there, promise or not, that she had to do something.

Her attention snapped to her hidden starter with an alarming ferocity in her blue eyes. "Servine, now!" A green form slipped out from his shaded alleyway with sharp fangs exposed. With a might hiss he rushed in the pile and forced the other snake-like Pokemon back, startling them into submission with his fierce fangs. The Ekans gave him a cautious look before slithering backwards, eying the fallen Luxio.

A lump of black fur shivered in an attempt to stand up, yellow eyes narrowed with pain. Curtis rushed to his partner in the heat of the moment, ignoring how the bikers gave each other a sly look. The green-haired boy picked up his partner with gentle hands, his voice checking him over. Luxio looked up with rumpled fur to give his Trainer a quick lick on the cheek in reassurance. The boy smiled at his Pokemon with a murmur of apology before pulling him away from the fray, silently allowing Rosa to take over.

Unfortunately for the bikers, Rosa wasn't willing to give them an opportunity to act on whatever plan they were thinking up with their quick whispers. A fierce fire took over her eyes as she stood taller and thrust her arm forward, pointing at the mass of Pokemon before her. "Servine," she growled. The Grass Snake Pokemon waddled over with a judgmental glare of his opponents, dissecting them in his mind and finding their flaws. A grin overtook his features as he found a glaring weakness in the form of their type, Poison. Rosa looked down to her partner with a grin of her own, soft features sharp with confidence and anger. "Let's shake 'em up!"

Servine let out a sharp cry of agreement before jumping in the air and shaking his tail wildly. The bikers exchanged looks of amusement before roaring with laughter, their shoulders jumping with every slight sound. All of a sudden the ground below them shook violently, cutting off the laughter of the balding men. The men struggled to stay standing as the Ekans let out cries of terror and slithered in all directions, hoping to avoid the quake. Instead the ground rose in pillars to slam into their frail bodies and send them flying, leaving them knocked out on the ground. Their noble Trainers shot them a quick look before running away with cries of fear, abandoning them in the shaking street.

"Get them," Rosa rumbled above the roar of the earth, her voice quiet to only reach the ears of her own teammates. Servine grinned before rushing up on the fleeing men and slapping them back into the jumping towers of concrete and dirt, knocking them beside their Pokemon. Curtis and Luxio watched on as he called out for a Razor Leaf, scaring the men by surrounding them with sharp blades of foliage. The bikers then recalled their Pokemon and surrendered eagerly, hands in the air and bodies curled on the ground. The brunette merely grinned before pulling out her Pokegear and calling the police with a quick mention of a pickup on Fifth Avenue.

A half-hour later and the men were in chains in the back of a police cruiser, leaving the two sitting on an unaffected bicycle rack and overlooking the damage Rosa had singlehandedly caused the road committee. Luxio sat beside his Trainer with bright eyes, healed by a Pecha Berry from Rosa and a few potions she had dug out of her bag. Servine clung to her back as if her backpack, his eyes sharp and scanning the area for any other opponents. Curtis looked down at his feet for a few moments before turning to Rosa with a downtrodden, embarrassed look.

"I'm sorry you had to jump in like that and save me," he mumbled. Blue eyes shifted from her dirtied shoes to his face, seeing for herself the bright cheeks and wringing hands in his lap. "I thought that Luxio and I could defeat them for you and prove that we're strong Trainers, too." Luxio let out a sad cry beside his Trainer before laying down and hiding his face behind his clumsy paws. Curtis let out a bitter chuckle before shaking his head and looking down. "Looks like all I did was make a mess."

"Hey," Rosa cooed. Her hand found a place on his shoulder, resting on his puffy jacket. "There's no need for you to feel bad. You were really brave, you know." She looked away just as the boy turned to her in surprise, hiding her emotions well. "Challenging three bikers like that with only Luxio by your side...that took guts." Her words slipped out of a smile as she struggled to speak. "I-I mean, it was also kinda cool how you were so determined to defeat them for me. It was...gentlemanly of you, I guess."

Curtis watched her for a moment before catching a flash of red on the tip of her ear, alerting him of her embarrassment. He then smiled and thanked her quickly, shifting his seat on the blue bar below them in hopes of freeing himself from the numb feeling in his rear. "You really acted like a hero with that Earthquake of yours." Rosa turned to him in shy interest, still hoping to hide her bright face but too pulled in by the word 'hero' to look away from him. The green-haired boy's smile grew wider at the sight of her bright eyes. "It was just like the Hero of Ideals would have done with her Samarott!" Rosa sat up a bit straighter at the mention of her hero, the boy knowing very well how much she strived to be like the fiery, bubblegum-chewing brunette who faced off against Team Plasma and soared through the skies on Zekrom.

"You really think so?" Awe was bleeding through her words as Servine chirped excitedly, energetic with the happiness from his Trainer. "You really think that I was like White?" Curtis watched her smile grow for a moment before nodding his head vigorously, bringing a laugh to her lips. He then watched as the young brunette jumped to her feet and spouted off a familiar speech, telling how she was one day going to find her hero and lead her back to Unova. Servine struck a pose on her shoulder as the girl pointed to the sky in the direction of Dragonspiral Tower, the place that she was certain she would find a few clues and become just as strong as White Hildan.

The green-haired boy watched their excitement for a while before closing his eyes and chuckling under his breath. The world behind his eyes seemed to melt into only a realm of sound, Rosa's proud rambling and Servine's chirps of cheer becoming the only thing in his mind. Luxio let out a happy bark as Curtis just breathed and listened to her voice. He wanted to speak up about her latest performance, but with her eager energy he doubted he would get a chance. He instead kept the little thought to himself, turning it over in his mind.

You don't need to become like White, Rosa. You're strong enough on your own.

Author's Note: /throws hands up/ This is so late it's not even funny. This was based on a prompt from Tumblr given to me by Nighttyger at the same time as the Chrobin prompt. This one was for LivecasterShipping with "I don't need you to protect me." This is probably a week or two late, but I just couldn't write it for some reason. I've never written Curtis or Rosa except for a very old drabble thing I did last year and let's just say that the characterization I used in that was vastly different from the ones seen here.

So here you go. My first attempt at LivecasterShipping. We've got a not-so-good-at-battling Curtis and an energetic and starstruck(?) Rosa who's on her way to finding the great Hero of Ideals. And yes, headcanon White chewed bubblegum almost constantly, was very short with an even shorter temper and spoke in a Brooklyn accent (which I did not include in this). She's a sassy little thing and Rosa would probably be better off not trying to imitate her.