The Essentials:
Name: Miranda Duvet Pounce (Mi, Mira)
Age: Fifteen
Gender: Female
Species: Skitty
Fatal Flaw: Miranda is a really jumpy individual sometimes nearing paranoia. She's scared of big Pokemon before she has even met them, imagining they could outright eat or squash her since she's so tiny. New things instigate her curiosity but as soon as something unexpected happens, for example, a sudden noise, Mi will squeak and cower in fear of whatever it was. This Skitty's colourful imagination seems to always make her think that the worst will happen: Maybe a thief will jump from behind this tree, maybe we're gonna be caught and sent to prison before they can ever let us talk! Maybe that spider will kill me on my sleep!
Obviously, most of the 'what if's are too surreal to happen, but Miranda will need a friend to assure her of that. Her silly delusions can keep her from doing fun things she adores or even get in the way of her going outside. All because 'someone said this', 'I read about that', or 'that could happen'. Another issue is that it takes her far longer than most to adapt to new situations and people. New places seem to give her quite a dose of anxiety.
Saving Grace: Once settled in, Miranda will start to slowly open up. What's behind of all the anxiety and vivid imagination, is a sweet little kitten with a large heart. Mi's capacity of understanding others is quite unusual making her able to forgive even the most terrible of deeds. Sure, bullies are scary, but in the occasion that said bully shares it's hard past, Miranda will be the first one to jump in the scene and probably offer a hug followed by a heartfelt 'Oh, you poor poor thing!'. Her empathy also makes her very emotional, being the one to burst crying with all kinds of sad stories, no matter if they're not actually ALL that sad to everyone else in the room.
Appearance:
Considered kinda short even amongst other Skitty, Miranda is 1' 9'' and weights a feeble 69,9 lbs. In addition to their normal looks of pink and cream, these pokemon have evolved to become bipedal, their hind paws while still cat-like, getting more closer to the body line giving them the stability to run on two legs without face-planting on the ground. Despite the big advancement in standing, grabbing things is still a bit of a task. The toes from the front paws evolved to be more mobile, able to separate well from the other toes at will and bend inwards a bit earlier, making it so that the paw itself bends in half, similar to what humans were capable of doing. However as the toes have not changed shape or size, trying to actively grab thin objects proves to be a challenge and there's not much support, meaning the object might fall on quick paw movements or if the Skitty is bumped into/shaken/pushed/pulled. The 'half-assed' evolution makes it so that if the pokemon desires to run on four paws for a quicker escape, it still can. This practice is frowned upon socially though, advised to be their last resort and only for extreme emergencies.
Miranda herself is a green-eyed Skitty and her clothing style is rather tomboyish, composed mostly of jeans, shorts, sleeved T-shirts and sneakers. 'Rather tomboyish' because the assortment of colors and cute prints throws that concept a bit out of the window, especially once you see her ribbon and collar collection. Mi loves to wear those on her neck and sometimes may swap the ribbon to be on the tail instead, always in a lace her mom carefully tied for her.
Personality: Considerate [+],
Forgiving [+],
Cautious [+],
Gentle [+],
Obsequious [/],
Timid [/],
Sociable [/],
Curious [/],
Lonely [-],
Cowardly [-],
Dismayed [-],
Suspicious [-].
Mi is extremely gentle, speaking in a low, softly voice most of the time. Her words, despite being rather simple, are sincere, kind and often good advice/encouragement. She's always measuring her words and reactions, not wanting to hurt others feelings or anger them in any way. Miranda prefers to be everyone's friend, or at least pleasant to everyone else than to be selfish and act on impulse, though pleasing absolutely everyone is very hard, nearly impossible, putting the Skitty in an impasse.
Sometimes her self-control will slip, and the girl's curiosity and excitement will speak louder. Then Mi might go dashing straight to whatever caught her attention, forgetting to be cautious to stay out of danger. Especially if it's a grassy field, she adores running around free in these and later lying down for a nap in the sun. Like the kitty she is, Mi is easily amused and impressed by everyday objects. Something extremely mundane to others will be the world's best thing for her, drawing her to fiddle around with it until she either gets bored or her energy runs out.
When meeting another pokemon, Miranda is timid at first, speaking ever lower than normal, with her heart pounding and her flight instinct ready to kick-in in case something goes wrong. If it's too big or scary of a pokemon, she'll curve her back into herself, appearing smaller and mew in fear of the stranger. It's their call to attempt to calm her or simply leave her be. Going past this stage, they'll have a friendly kitten who loves her friends a lot. Mi can come across as dependent on others, often asking them what they want, or asking for permission to do things, before actually doing them.
She's a very lonely individual and may feel cast aside, unneeded, on situations that are not what they seem. When feeling like this, Miranda will grow distant from others, failing to listen to conversations and barely responding. Once the feeling becomes unbearable, she'll make an excuse to leave the group, searching for a peaceful and isolated place where she could think about it, or cry. Mi does not desire for her friends to see her in this frail state. She prefers that they can see her as this cheerful and kind pokemon, rather than the fearful, broken kitty she actually sees herself as.
Often, Miranda lacks the courage to deal with her own problems. Her first instinct is to run away and it takes her an incredible amount of mental power to not oblige with it. Not being alone helps, and having people need her help is even better, as her loyalty to them kicks in and she mindlessly throws herself in the issue to assist. Mi is unable to hold grudges for too long. When someone wrongs her, of course, she'll be upset and frustrated at the occasion, but come with a sincere apology in an hour or two and no matter what you did, you'll be forgiven in the spot.
Due to her almost paranoid anxiety and fear, Miranda will be suspicious of an individual that appears to be too friendly. She'll think the want something out of her, or maybe are tricking her into trusting them, just to be caught off-guard when she's alone with them. This is especially strong towards big and scary-looking pokemon and it's a throwback to her childhood incident. It will take her some time and there might be relapses of the behavior in the future.
History: Born in Rustboro City, Miranda was always a curious little kitty. Being an only child of a pair of Delcatty, Helen and Noah, her parents had been too overprotective of her, making all kinds of rules and stories to keep her from harm, homeschooling her in the start and not allowing her to play outside or with other kids, unless an adult was coming along and they knew her friends. Thus, when Mi was given lighter permissions to explore, by 8, she took the opportunity in a hardcore way. The Skitty wandered off, away from her little cabin home and chasing after a squirrel, found herself lost inside the dense forest between Rustboro and Petalburg City.
It was a terrifying experience. The woods of Hoenn were vast and Miranda had been so distracted on her way in, that she couldn't remember where she had come from! To make it worse, the night started to fall, a cold icy breeze seemed to punish the little Skitty for her stupidity...and then there was a growl. Out of the mass of trees, an older, probably wild, Poochyena appeared and the grin it had was an indicator that it's intentions we're clearly not good. Not waiting for the imminent attack, Miranda picked a random way and ran as fast as could. She'll never know if the hyena pokemon was just going to pick on her or actually pounce and end her life, but it had been certainly a wise decision to not stay to figure it out. Crawling into a little hole in a tree, small enough that her pursuer would not be able to get inside, Mi managed to avoid the danger. Scared and alone, the Skitty vowed to never, ever, ever wander off away from her parents again, if she ever got back home after this.
The next morning, Miranda heard her name being called. That chase had gotten her fairly closer to where she had entered and her dad had been desperately looking for her. The Skitty crawled back out, covered in mud and leaves and dashed towards the voice. Noah looked tired, he had been up all night searching for her. The expression of joy and relief when he saw Miranda was safe, she had a couple of scratches here and there from branches but still alive, would be a face the Skitty would never forget...Neither the lecture she was given afterwards, but Mi knew she deserved every single word of that. This little adventure made Miranda an even greater shut-in. Her first experience on the longed-for world, beyond the field near home, had been a disaster. She was reminded of that terrible night every time she attempted to approach the door, fearing that other wild, aggressive pokemon were out there, searching for her, waiting for her to be reckless again.
At first, not having their daughter stroll off without permission was a delight for the Delcatty pair, but as that behavior continued on, already a month after the occurrence, the couple started getting worried that it wasn't just the effect of having learned her lesson. Miranda refused to go outside, even with an adult, and her friends had started pestering the Pounce's about her health. Not knowing what else to do, they called a Psychologist, a kind and calm Azumarill called Dana, to help them out. Of course, having a stranger inside was the least that Miranda wanted. It was a long and difficult process, but eventually, Dana's kindness and determination towards the case reached the Skitty. From there on, the Azumarill helped Miranda fight her anxiety and fear. Gradually Mi was back outside, first with company and later by herself. The suggestion for her to attend a normal school was also listened to, with Helen staying around for the first month, encouraging her daughter to interact instead of staying with her, until it was clear Miranda had gotten used to the routine and could handle it by herself.
It was some progress, but as the years passed by it became clear Mi was too dependent of her family. She had accommodated herself, even with the constant guiding and advising of Dana, there was not a single drop of aspiration, for anything. It had been a hard decision, but the Pounce couple came to realize that if they really wanted Miranda to grow, they had to let her go, send her away to new experiences and new people. Otherwise, she would always rely on them for everything and that would be potentially bad for her future.
Choosing Miraculum Academy, a place prized for its encouragement of dedication and hardwork, for this experience and after a very very long discussion over why they were doing this, Miranda's parents enrolled her in the academy for High School, expecting that it would her find that spark of aspiration the Skitty had lost in the way.
