houndoom [ cerberus | dark/fire | ♂ ] ; his nonhuman best friend, his companion. honestly it seemed by chance that avery got him. a then four-going-on-five year old stumbling upon a field egg, not really knowing what else to do with it besides showing his dad. they weren’t home in sinnoh at the time --- anthony had “business” he needed to tend to in kalos --- but he told his son all he could. and within time, the egg hatched and a baby houndour appeared. he was so excited; his first and own pokémon. the rest was history as the two bonded quicker than anyone expected (and them barking back and forth in some way to communicate was just mildly amusing). unfortunately the houndour went without a name for years, until avery was seven and got his hands on a book of greek mythology. cerberus seemed fitting for his helldog, he thought, and the dog agreed (it was a miracle he finally responded to the name as many have been tried before). fast forward years later and cerberus evolved to houndoom, and as always, remains by avery’s side.
infernape [ flint | fire/fighting | ♂ ] ; this pokémon was a gift from his mom when he was ten. isabella knew avery always loved her monferno, so when said monferno evolved into infernape, she decided it was a good opportunity to give him to her son. definitely one of his favorite gifts that year.
golbat [ drac | poison/flying | ♂ ] ; it was almost a cliché to name the vampire bat after dracula, wasn’t it? either way, avery didn’t particularly care. if it wasn’t for his adventuring in turnback cave (something he never wants to do again, admittedly), he never would’ve found this bloodsucker. he was fifteen when he got drac and honestly the scolding his mother gave him after when he returned home was worth it.
absol [ melinoë | dark | ♀ ] ; on another venture to kalos at age seventeen, this time by himself, avery found himself visiting the friend safari facility in kiloude city. of course while he came prepared, he didn’t expect to find an absol, much less managing to obtain it. the absol was named after the chthonic greek goddess (or nymph) invoked in an orphic hymn, propitiated as a bringer of nightmares and madness.
skuntank [ ahkyls | poison/dark | ♀ ] ; ahkyls (named after the greek goddess of misery and poison) was found on route 221 in his home region, sinnoh, when avery was walking with his sister and their companions. at the time ahkyls was only a stunky, but true to avery’s typical fashion, he was immediately drawn to her (by this point it was hardly a secret he had an affinity towards dark types and their dual-types). however initially, he was going to let his sister take the pokémon, but she insisted he should keep the pokémon --- to this day, he believes the only reason she let him was because of the whole skunk thing.
Gregory Gengar -- Gifted to by Grandfather -- Raised from Gastly (Poke Ball)
Gregory is Christine’s Right Hand. As he has been with her the longest out of the team, he is the clear leader of the group. He is the pokemon allowed to wander out of his poke ball at any point in the day and is the one she depends on the most. He’s her best friend. Also I just wanna mention he’s only 2 inches shorter than Christine??? 4′11″ to her 5′1″
Mark Mimikyu -- Caught in the Thrifty Megamart -- Great Ball
Mark is the diva of the group. He wants to be the star, be the beloved one. Sometimes it’s a little too much. Think of Misty’s Psyduck in the original Pokemon show and you’ve got Mark. Christine tries not to baby him but honestly he’s so sensitive over any criticism that it’s hard not to just snuggle with her little cosplaying child and tell him he’s doing a great job.
Stanford Sableye -- Ten Carat Hill -- Dusk Ball
If Gregory is Christine’s Right Hand then Stanford is her left. He is quiet, soft-spoken, but able to pull his own weight in a pinch. At first Christine was sure that he was miserable being her pokemon given his Quiet nature it just took come coaxing to get his true power.
Chad Lampent -- Hau'oli Cemetery (Island Scan) -- Raised from Litwick (Ultra Ball)
Chad was probably the hardest pokemon for Christine to acquire. She used the Island Scan in order to find him and boy is she glad she did. From a little litwick to a scrappy lampent, Chad has proved he has the drive to go all the way in whatever they put their minds to. Much like Mark, Christine babies Chad which Gregory finds rather humorous. He, also, babies Chad, though.
Fiona Froslass -- Caught in Tapu Village -- Raised from Snorunt (Luxury Ball)
Once Christine decided that she was going to get herself out of Tapu Village and even Alola a female snorunt appeared before her in her village. Gregory was wary of the creature but Christine took it as a sign that she was on the right path and caught Fiona on the first try. The three of them trained together alone for a long time. Once Christine was accepted into Kanto University she splurged to buy a Dawn Stone for Fiona. The reason she doesn’t rank higher on the team is Fiona is shy and prefers not to battle unless necessary. Christine respects that.
Benny Shuppet -- Traded to Christine for an Alolan Raticate -- Ultra Ball
When Christine was offered to trade an Alolan raticate for a shuppet she was skeptical at first. That seemed pretty steep for a first-evolution pokemon but after she had not connected with Ryan Raticate even after evolving him from a ratata she decided to give it a try. Benny’s sweet disposition made it clear that it was the right choice. He was playful and mischievous while also loving to snuggle up with Christine and the rest of the team. He tends to be a little rebellious if pushed too hard so she tries to give him some space if they have been training for too long.
