Trainer
Name: Rin Okumura
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Height: 5' 3"
Weight: 103 lb.
Image:
Starting Region: Kanto
Personality:
Rin loves Pokemon, to the point that she frequently wears outfits based on various Pokemon. Thanks to that, it's common for people to mistake Rin as a Gijinka. To an extent, though, Rin does see herself as a Pokemon. She knows that society makes a distinction between Pokemon and humans, but Rin never really understood it. She's seen Pokemon that looks like humans and her family's Gijinka Ninetales also talks like a human. Rin herself can, to an extent, understand Pokemon simply from spending so much time with them. Rin may call the Pokemon that travel with her "her Pokemon" but only because society has dictated it to be the norm. Really, to her, the concept of owning a Pokemon is about as bizarre as owning a human--she considers them her companions, family, friends, and simply as sentient beings willing to travel with her.
Her empathy for Pokemon, however, shouldn't be mistaken for pacifism. She grew up around Pokemon. She understands that for them, fighting is acceptable. At times, it's a sport. At other times, it's a means to an end. Sometimes, it's a way to declare one's intent and wishes to the world. Most of all, though, it's just something natural. She's tumbled with the Pokemon she's grown up with, suffering severe injuries at times because of it. Never, though, has she shied away from it. Rin, through her almost daily interaction with Pokemon, has grown into a small teenager who packs a punch. Beyond her small size and petite frame is a very agile girl who knows how to hit hard. She's nowhere near what a Pokemon can do, but it's exceptionally close despite her lack of formal training.
Beyond her inability to understand why she needs to treat humans and Pokemon differently, though, Rin is a… No, she's still a very queer girl. Rin often thinks strangely, in a way that changes with every moment she's alive. She's always rather quiet because she knows people sometimes look at her weirdly if she says something she thinks is perfectly normal. After all, her sense of normal isn't usually the norm. She'll nickname anyone she encounters, wild Pokemon and human strangers alike. She's even nicknamed Aaron several times over, first giving him the nickname "Rin" and then adding whatever honorific she feels like to the end of it, creating names along the lines of "Rin-sama," "Rin-oppa," and "Rin-senpai." Her eyes almost always look bored, compounding with her silence to give her the illusion of being a very laid back person. Anyone who can see her mouth (inconveniently covered by the collar of her current outfit), though, will know otherwise. Unlike her eyes, Rin's mouth changes like normal. Those who have been around her long enough will definitely know she can be quite pushy and pully. She likes hanging around others, particularly those she like or even just know, and will drag them into whatever new thing she wants to explore or try. As long as she can tell that she's in no danger, Rin would even pull a thorn out of a Tyranitar's mouth. She's a girl of few words and lots of action… lots and lots of unexpected action.
Rin's personality, though, isn't just the only thing making Rin's life exciting and weird. She seems to have the darndest sense of luck that works both ways. For instance, her shiny Eevee, amazingly bred on top of its unique coloration, was a stroke of ridiculously good luck. On the other hand, Rin has also been caught in too many of Gargle's explosion to remember (concussions do help in forgetting, though). Her luck sways back and forth from one end to the next, but it has the habit of working when least expected to make her life interesting. In fact, the extremities of her luck is so reliable that Rin herself has made a habit of referencing it and acting upon it, often comforting those worried for her, "Don't worry, it'll be interesting if I accomplish this so it'll all work out," even as she thinks, <Then again, me falling off the cliff and spraining a few bones could also lead to an interesting encounter in the hospital.>
History:
Rin was born in Viridian City as the only child to a professor mother who specialized in researching Pokemon stone evolutions and a father that selectively bred high quality Pokemon. She was raised near the outskirts of Viridian Forest, by both her human parents and their Pokemon. In particular, she was often left in the care of the male Ninetales gijinka her Ginda born and raised mother had inherited, a Pokemon that had been with the mother's side of Rin's extended family tree for as long as anyone alive could remember. Rin's father, like her mother, was also a Ginda native who had immigrated to Kanto, but he did not have a Gijinka.
Raised by both Pokemon and humans with equal amounts of love, the young Rin had a difficult time differentiating between the two. It wasn't just a problem of the physical similarities between Gijinka and humans. She also did not understand the concept of treating her father's Talonflame any differently from, say, her father's brother. To the baby who was sung to sleep by a Blissey one day and then her mother the next, the toddler that was spoon fed baby mush by her father until halfway through the meal when he left the task to a Ditto because there was a work emergency, and the preschooler that didn't discriminate between asking her family's Nintales gijinka and her parents to read a book; there existed no line between humans and Pokemon.
Of course, once she started school, Rin soon learned. In fact, Rin started school a full year early because her parents were worried that waiting a year like other kids would be too late for Rin to learn to differentiate between humans and Pokemon. In school, Rin learned that society expected her to act differently between those of her species and those not of her species as her parents had hoped. She learned that, but she never truly felt that way. She had human friends, but played just as often with the young Pokemon in her father's nursery. She never felt like the only child because, to her, all the young Pokemon she came to know were her older or younger siblings. When elementary graduation came around, Rin cried because her family wasn't allowed to bring more than one Pokemon but everyone else was allowed to bring as many human siblings and relatives as they wanted.
By the time Rin started middle school, she'd started to express her kinship Pokemon in the way she dressed. She began selecting clothing based on what made her look like a Pokemon. It started with just colors--color combinations and placements that resembled a certain Pokemon's coloration. Around this time, she also got to really know her cousin (father's side), Aaron Okumura. The two had met when younger, young enough for Rin to mess up Aaron's name into "Rin," which happened to stick from then on despite the fact that Rin's own name was Rin. Back then, Aaron and Rin lived near by to allow for frequent visits, but the laid back Aaron rarely bothered to try and interact with Rin. Rin, in turn, never bothered to try because she could always just play with the Pokemon.
In the first year of middle school, though, the two were placed in the same class, their identical last name landing Aaron in a seat right in front of Rin. Rin, being shorter, tried to ask Aaron for a seat change, but the strict teacher refused even after Aaron's neutral acceptance. Stuck behind someone at least a head taller, Rin had trouble taking notes for obvious reasons. Forced to ask for notes, she did the easiest thing and asked not only the person she was most familiar with in her new school, but also the person sitting right in front of her: Aaron "Rin" Okumura. Not caring as usual, Aaron shared his notes… his incredibly messy notes. Unable to read them, the next thing Rin did was arrange study sessions with Aaron, which turned out to be incredibly useful for the girl. Not only could Aaron decipher his own handwriting, but he generally did better than Rin, who preferred to play than study, in every subject.
Up until Aaron had to leave with his father, the two slowly built a friendship through studying and then Rin dragging Aaron into various (mis)adventures with Pokemon to show her "thanks." Then, after that, the two became pen pals. The first letters from Aaron required Rin to compare her notes with Aaron's notes to create some kind of reference to decipher her cousin's mess of writing, but she eventually learned to read Aaron's chicken scratch with ease. Rin lived a relatively peaceful life, and Aaron's letter about his and his father's adventures in Ginda spiced it up.
By the time she entered high school, Rin had not only perfected the art of dressing up in a stylish Pokemon fashion but was also determined to leave on her own Pokemon journey in time. She already had a Gastly, Gargles, that she had begged from her father. He had given her what wasn't the best specimen but a noteworthy one nonetheless. More importantly, it was a Gastly that had been with Rin since she was born, a Pokemon she considered one of her many older sisters.
However, even with Gargles, Rin did not feel ready to leave. She just felt that she needed something a little but more. Rin's eyes were set on her mother's shiny Eevee. She didn't plan to steal it, but the two had been nigh inseparable since the Eevee was born. The Eevee was Rin's closest sister, and her mother knew it. While it was officially Rin's mother's Pokemon, the mother never took it with her on her research travels. The Eevee, named Muse, was always left at home. Both parents had initially given Muse to the mother in order to keep it safe from any accidental transactions the father might have made with it. However, now they kept it in the mother's ownership in order to keep Rin from running off into a dangerous Pokemon journey before they thought her ready.
Eventually, though, the parents agreed that Rin was ready. At the age of 16, she was given Muse as a present and given permission to leave. Although, even then, they stressed the importance of school. Rin simply smiled and nodded, understanding why her parents thought like that but also knowing that they would understand why she would need to disagree. School, with only humans, was no fun for Rin. She preferred being around the presence of both when possible. On a positive note, Rin left for her journey. She made a beeline for the Ginda region, undeterred by the many other, much more experienced trainers heading there with her. Before she left, she mailed Aaron one last letter, "I'll be seeing you."
List of Pokemon
Species: Gastly
Name: Gargles
Age: 23
Image:
Level: 17
Gender: Female
Ability: Levitate
Moves [Night Shade] [Hypnosis] [Trick] [Explosion]
Personality:
Gargles, despite her 23 years of life experience, is happy and innocent. It's probably because a good portion of those 23 years was spent fainted after getting too excited and blowing up with Explosion. Her large amount of time spent unconscious is also likely one part of the reason why Gargles is not as strong most Pokemon her age are expected to be--the other part of the reason being that Gargles could care less. Nevertheless, Gargles isn't the type to let such a thing bring her down. After all, ghost Pokemon live for much longer than puny human mortals do.
As Rin's older sister figure (of sorts), Gargles often gets worried for his younger sister. She'll scout ahead without being told for Rin, fervently warning her if there's anything that seems to be dangerous. She can get extremely worried for Rin, and has been known to explode from sheer worry if Rin doesn't take her warnings seriously.
While mostly cheery, Gargles does have a noticeably timid and indecisive side. She doesn't want to make others angry at her, so she'll more often than not seek permission to do something before going through it. She doesn't mind meeting new people, but it'll take a while for her to be comfortable with offering ideas to strangers.
Gargle tends to explode whenever she's overly excited, whether it's being too happy, too scared, too sad, or anything else. Sometimes, she'll even randomly explode for seemingly no reason, but these cases are rare.
History:
Rin's father bred and raised Gargles. However, her various flaws prevented her from being given to any other trainer, so she became one of the many Pokemon that hung around Rin's home and helped care and play with the young human girl. From the moment Rin was born, Gargles was Rin's ditzy older sister, a bit careless and in need of lots of help but always well-meaning. When Rin heard that Aaron received a Haunter-turned-Gengar gijinka from his father, Rin demanded for her own Pokemon. She would have preferred Muse, but her parents did not feel they could trust that Rin wouldn't leave after receiving Muse. Therefore, they gave her Gargles instead, reasoning that it only made sense that Rin was given a Pokemon of the same evolutionary line as Gengar.
Species: Eevee
Name: Muse
Age: 10
Image:
Level: 15
Gender: Female
Ability: Anticipation
Moves [Helping Hand] [Sing] [Wish] [Heal Bell]
Personality:
Muse is a very sensitive and careful Eevee. She's a scaredy cat and the younger sibling that Rin had always had to protect, even when playing with other Pokemon. Not one for fighting, Muse was always the one licking everyone's wounds whenever the play-fighing turned too rough. Always in the back, Muse always had a knack for noticing the details most others missed and she's clever enough to use that information for the benefit of herself and those she cares for. She, like most other Pokemon, accepts battles as a natural course of events. She simply prefers taking the support role in fights over a more aggressive position.
Many would compare the shiny Eevee to a princess upon first meeting her. After all, she's protected, rarely goes into fights herself, and absolutely adores shinies. However, Muse isn't just weak and a crybaby. Despite her weak exterior, though, Muse is perhaps one of the most decisive and stubborn Pokemon one would ever meet. Just being a 15 year old Eevee bred and raised by humans is proof enough of Muse's stubbornness when most others of her kind and in her situation have long since evolved. Muse likes being small and easy to hide. She refuses to change herself to suit another's need, just as she refuses to follow the majority of other Pokemon and fight in battles with tooth and claw. She'd rather convince people to agree with her with tears rather than force. Just as her sister, Rin, is the type to drag people into danger and excitement, Muse is the one to persuade them to run away with her for their own safety.
History:
Muse was born when Rin was just a child, and since then, the two were always there for each other. The plan from the moment Muse was born as a shiny Eevee was to give her to Rin once she was of age. However, Rin being just a baby at the time, ownership of Muse was officially given to Rin's mother. The original plan was to give Muse to Rin the moment she was old enough to own her Pokemon. However, Rin's adventurous ways quickly changed that plan. Fearing that Rin would leave on her own adventure the moment she could bring her closest sister along, the parents held onto Muse. They wanted to give it to Rin after she had finished her schooling. However, Rin's persistence won and they officially gave Muse to Rin a year earlier than they planned.
