Since she was a small child, Ralica wondered why she was born the way she is, and the local doctor's complex explanation of medical disorders didn't better her understanding any. All she knew was everyone around her could speak, but she could not. Ralica didn't have time to dwell on this, however. In the poor Lyuskan village Nalsk, there was an old saying: You either work, drink, or freeze. Growing up, Ralica spent most of her day hard at work on her family's farm, and the rest of it doing odd jobs for her neighbors or being with her family. The school was able to teach Ralica and her family sign language at an early age, so she may easily communicate with them. This didn't help her much beyond that, however, as few others in Nalsk understood sign language. (They were so busy they were lucky they even had time to learn to READ!) Ralica could still communicate to them through writing, but such conversations were slow and tedious for everyone involved. Luckily she didn't need many words to plow a field or move a hay bail.
Although she had plenty of interaction with her neighbors and friends through work, she found a much more personal companionship in the pokemon she looked after on the farm. She was fascinated in the relationship between people and pokemon, especially in how well she could relate to it. Similarly to Ralica, pokemon could not speak directly to people, but were able to find other methods of communication and understanding to maintain their powerful bond. Ralica felt she could better herself through understanding this relationship, and dedicated her academic life to studying Pokemon. Through her passion, Ralica's teachers discovered she was a very gifted learner. She found herself near the top of her class, and was placed in courses and activities ahead of her peers, but that wasn't enough for Ralica. She only felt truly accomplished once she completed her final for Senior School: A study of everything she learned throughout her life about the relationship between pokemon, and her own theories about the subject based on her personal experience. It came as no surprise to anyone when Ralica graduated with honors.
What came to be the biggest surprise of Ralica's life, however, was when one of her teacher brought her a letter. When Ralica's final was graded, her pokemon science teacher suggested she let the school submit it to an interregional scholarship program for gifted students. Although Ralica had no hope that they would even consider someone of her background or condition, she had it submitted since she could kill some time before the end of class filling out the application. She never expected that same teacher to inform her that her paper had been accepted, and she'd been awarded a scholarship to a school of her choosing. Ralica was beyond excited to learn that she could take her passion even further, and reach a level of success she never thought possible for herself, but there would be a catch. The university most suited towards Ralica's needs that would accept her was in Sinnoh.
Her parents were heavily opposed to her leaving the farm, and argued with Ralica for hours on end over the subject. Eventually they came to an understanding, however. While her father was tenuous about the affair at best, her mother fully supported her decision. Her younger siblings weren't too happy about picking up the slack for her, though.
Ralica enjoyed the cool climate of Sinnoh and loved meeting the new people and pokemon she found there. The university in Jubilife city was also an interesting experience for her, as she could swear the school itself was bigger than her hometown and found it very convenient that many of her fellow students seemed to understand sign language. Unfortunately Ralica found herself vastly unfamiliar with the large city she now called home, and the lifestyle that came with it. The next four years of her life were not only an academic struggle but a personal one as well, as she just wasn't raised for the city life, and she didn't see that struggle ending anytime soon. Once she graduated with a degree in pokemon behavioral science, her school's employment program pointed her towards applying for a job as an assistant to a local pokemon researcher, Lucine Samara. Ralica found solace in her new employer's patient and understanding demeanor towards her, but still felt uncomfortable living in the loud, crowded Jubilife city.
A few months later, Ralica found herself boarding a ship with Lucine, bound for a previously uncharted island. She had no idea what to expect there, but between her overwhelming curiosity and yearning to leave the city behind she was more than ready to take the chance.