sylveon
— name: scruffy
— ability: pixilate
— known moves: dig, shadow ball, moonblast, last resort
— nature: naive
— gender: male
— level: 42
pikachu
— name: max
— ability: lightningrod
— known moves: surf, nuzzle, strength, electro ball
— nature: rash
— gender: male
— level: 37
— fun fact: some say max taught danny how to surf.
dewgong
— name: mina
— ability: thick fat
— known moves: aqua ring, brine, waterfall, ice breath
— nature: rash
— gender: female
— level: 34
— fun fact: was his mother's pokemon first
skrelp
— name: pouty
— ability: poison point
— known moves: acid, venoshock, poison tail, bubble
— nature: serious
— gender: male
— level: 23
fearow
— name: justice
— ability: keen eye
— known moves: mirror move, fly, drill run, u-turn
— nature: adamant
— gender: female
— level: 35
— fun fact: was his father's pokemon first
family:
father; birdkeeper ernie, route 20 (gen4)
mother; swimmer leona, route 20 (gen4)
hometown; fuchsia city outskirts/beach house on route 19
the kanto region, after the initial hype of team rocket, had a boom in tourism that also created a boom in the economy. when that excitement passed, those who'd immigrated to the region and those who'd lived there all along started to settle down. smaller towns like pallet and lavender filled with budding families while larger cities continued to grow, some even developing minor suburbs.
ernie and leona were two peas in a pod before even being together. ernie was with bert, a fellow birdkeeper in the area, while leona was with mina, another swimmer. bert wanted secrecy which ernie couldn't deal with, while mina was a truly free spirit, which eventually drove leona away; she still loved the woman, but being with her was too much to handle.
the two of them coming down from some rough break-ups met on accident, and actually battled, as was custom for trainers in the time. leona made quick work of ernie's team, using ice-based moves against his birds, leading him to withdraw before his pokemon could could sustain too much damage. leona hadn't expected that, and actually found the gesture both touching and mildly cute. they hit it off, and started dating soon after.
danny was a surprise that neither of them regretted having. the family moved to fuchsia temporarily to handle the birthing and early development, eventually buying a house from an elderly man on the beach by route 19. he was nearing the end of his life, but found the young couple and starting family rather charming, and left them with a single gift in the house: an egg. they kept the egg with little danny, hoping that when it hatched, the baby and the pokemon would get along and grow up side-by-side.
the pichu that hatched had a surprising affinity for water, seeming almost more natural in the ocean than on ground. that meant danny spent more time on the shore than inside, as well. around the age of 10, when danny was experiencing the lovely changes that come with puberty, was when max (danny finally named him, around 8) evolved.
in his larger form, max ran back to the house, danny hot on his trail. ernie and leona were both surprised by the sudden transformation (they'd knew it would happen eventually, but no idea when) and by the surfboard that max managed to pull half-way out from the attic the family didn't know was there.
hiding all along, above the house, were surfing trophies, surf boards of various sizes (which ended up being what danny learned on), and photos that detailed the life of an eternal bachelor-- the elderly man that sold them the house. with help, max pulled the pikachu-sized surfboard from the roof, and presented it to danny, who then carried it out to the beach for him.
watching max surf like that made danny want to learn. being taught anything by a pikachu was rough, as there was no way to describe anything, but they managed...by receiving a small shock upon doing something wrong. by the time he was 13, he was keeping up with his friend on the waves.
at 14, danny's parents gave him a choice. either stay at home with them and help open a shop up near town, or go on his very own adventure. the offer was sweetened with two pokemon; one from leona, a chubby and cute little seel named mina (which got a wide-eyed response from ernie), and a spearow named bertha, but ernie started to stutter when it came to the name. danny had an idea of his own. the bird had a sharp gleam in her eye, so danny called her justice.
scruffy was found, abandoned and weak, on one of his first nights out on his travels. the little thing was carried in his arms as he ran for the nearest pokemon center, max on his shoulders keeping any pokemon that tried to sneak up on them at bay. he knew a bit about eevees, but decided right then that he'd never evolve him. he was just too cute the way he was, and danny didn't want to force him into anything he didn't want.
danny has a spattering of badges across a few regions, always getting bored of one and moving on to another. his longest stint was in sinnoh. he'd heard rumors of strange lakes with mysterious pokemon, and wanted to check it out. what's the worst that would happen, right?
the team arrived at lake verity, scruffy and max always out of their pokeballs while mina and justice were let out to swim and fly freely. danny and max surfed around a bit, and he did his best to ignore the cave the lake was wrapped around, but max had a different idea. he followed his friend in, but narrowly dove out of the way of something flying its way out, likely startled by his and max's presence.
thus began mespirit's fun of taunting and tricking danny and company across sinnoh. he followed it from route to route, city to city, until he'd lost the trail completely. disappointed, he started the cycle of badge, badge, boredom, new region, repeat, landing him in kalos just after the chaos of team flare's attempt on the world.
danny kept the routine, though the area had these new treats, pokepuffs. he fed his friends as regularly as he could, both as rewards for great battles and good behavior. he didn't really have anything in mind when it came to who to catch, but when a wild honedge jumped him from behind, it was scruffy that stepped up to the plate. well-aimed shadow balls and the wild honedge was almost down, but scruffy stopped fighting, walking up to the other pokemon, as if concerned. danny nodded, and threw an ultra ball he'd been keeping just in case. just as the capture was completed, scruffy started to glow.
he panicked. maybe--maybe scruffy tripped on an evolutionary stone on the ground, or he'd accidentally triggered his friend to choose between espion or umbrion. he let mina and justice out, as well as their new companion (now named gladys, who was tugging on danny's sleeve for something healing), when he'd first caught sight of the ribbons.
scruffy had evolved into sylveon, likely from the burst of compassion it felt for gladys, when the honedge was on its last legs. danny just...laughed. he laughed, ran forward and tackled scruffy into a hug, who squealed and seemed to laugh along with him. gladys likes being in her pokeball, but sometimes scruffy whines until she comes out to play. the two get along great.
pouty was an accident that danny never regretted catching. he and max were surfing along route eight when the trainer dangled his feet below his board, and felt a sting. immediately ill, max managed to drag him to shore, followed by an apparently panicking and depressed-looking skrelp, who just splashed and made a fuss near the shore when max and scruffy managed to drag danny onto the sand. the four were found by a cyclist from cyllage, who helped danny up and into town.
when he awoke, he was presented with a net ball-- apparently the skrelp threw a fit when they'd left, and the cyclist made to catch it for him. she'd named it pouty, and apologized for the lack of creativity, but then danny called scruffy over by name and she rescinded the comment. her name was cindy, and her and danny still call and talk from time to time.
just when he thought he could stick in a region for a while, maybe move in with cindy and actually complete an 8-badge cycle, he caught word of a tricksy little critter with two of its companions being sighted in unova, a region he'd yet to travel to. leaving money with cindy that he forced her to take (she'd let him stay and recover in her place, on the grounds that she liked the company) and made his way to the new area, not knowing what he'd find.
{ there's an aggressive knock at the door, demanding and rapid-- and then suddenly there's no more knocking. }
The knock had been aggressive and Steve had rushed to get it, not really taking much heed to the fact that he was only wearing a towel. “Can I help you?” He asks to the man standing outside, someone he doesn’t recognize.
Supplies were being called for, and not the easy-to-purchase sort, either. It meant a visit to a nearby stash, which also meant a good hour's walk into dense trees that lay just outside of town.
A form caught Daryl's attention half a moment after the sound of settling branches did and he came to a wary stop, hand not quite drifting backward to his crossbow, touching at its casing but leaving it strapped to shoulder for now. A man, it looked like, had nodded off on the larger branch in the exact tree he'd been heading for and, though wariness plucked at the man's mood, irritation was a much stronger player just now.
He looked normal from here, and even if he wasn't, it'd not as if he couldn't handle himself in a shit situation. Angering some human-looking vampire, maybe? Wouln't be the first time. Daryl's hand dropped from his weapon and instead scooped a fair-sized rock up off of the forest floor, bouncing it once in his palm before chucking it at the sleeping man, caring little whether or not it caused injury.
