Emma is a kindhearted, hardworking detective who grew up as a homeless, illiterate orphan in the back alleys of Lumiose City. Her life changed drastically when a renowned detective named Looker took her into his agency, provided shelter, and began teaching her how to read. Desperate to financially support her new home, she took a dangerous part-time job under a rogue scientist who brainwashed her using a cybernetic suit, forcing her into a silent, Pokémon-stealing alter-ego known as Essentia. Essentia is the high-tech, cybernetic alter-ego that Emma is forced to assume under intense mind control. Dressed in a sleek, black and orange "Expansion Suit" complete with a fully enclosing electronic helmet, her appearance is entirely transformed into an impassive, synthetic soldier. This suit suppresses Emma's conscious mind, leaving her in a deep, dreamless sleep while a rogue scientist controls her body remotely to commit crimes. After being successfully rescued, she was eventually entrusted with running the entire Lumiose detective agency herself, where she handles complex case files, tracks down elusive fugitives, and investigates dangerous, rampaging rogue Pokémon. Having grown into a highly capable adult investigator, she actively seeks to protect her city and mirrors her own tragic past by taking in other homeless street children to offer them safety. Throughout her continuous journey, she is rarely seen without her most loyal lifelong companion, an Espurr named Mimi, though her mature detective arsenal expands to include a powerful Mega Ampharos alongside combat partners like Crobat and Malamar. When she was doing one of her cases she met her girlfriend and begun dating her.