Name: Nalomauna “Nalo” Woods
Gender: Demigirl (She/Her/They/Them)
Nalo is a student of Naranja Academy from Alola, and president of a Pokemon racing club she started: The Comets. She takes the place of the main character for Pokémon Scarlet (but doesn’t perfectly slide into the role). She’s also a boss of Team Star, and specializes in Dragon-Dark Types, and she has prosthetic legs.
She leads the Polaris Squad, located just outside Alfornada protecting a mountain top spring (where Nalo had a secret garden). The base has a reputation of being strong but also super chill unless threatened.
Nalo’s personality is very similar to Holden Caulfield from “Catcher in The Rye”. When you first meet her, she’s typically annoyed and hates interacting with other people. But her rough exterior is more so a defensiveness against being hurt by others. She hates therapy because it makes her feel like some experiment, and she has a habit of getting defensive when people get close to her issues.
She’s Native Alolan and is very dedicated to preserving Alolan culture.
She’s slowly learning about herself and she likes more “girly outfits” casually.
Nalo loves her Uncle Kuahi Woods… except she never met him. He worked for the International Police and supposedly died in a car crash some years before she was born. When she was born, her grandpa noticed how much she resembled him and named her “Nalomauna” in respect to him (Her name means “Lost Mountain”. “Kuahi” is Hawaiian for “Somewhere”, and is short for “Hua Kuahiwi”, which combined with his last name makes: “Wood’s Hau Kuahiwi”, the nickname for “Hibiscadelphus woodii”, a plant species that was believed to be extinct, until 2019 when three individuals were found on a cliffside). She also had a close relationship with her grandfather who died when she was young, he always taught her about Alolan history and beliefs.
Nalo joined Team Star sometime after coming to Paldea and is close to all the bosses. She likes hearing Atticus ramble about art, she affectionately teases Giacomo a lot, Ortega loves racing her and they’re friendly rivals, and Eri often tries to keep her from getting hurt or in danger (but nothing can stop Nalo from having her fun)…. They also just straight-up fight sometimes. She’s closest to Mela who developed a crush on her, they’re just a pair of chaos-causing friends.
Nalo helped Penny bring down Team Star to protect them, and between missions became close friends with her. Nalo affectionately teases her and visits her a lot, and usually likes helping her pull pranks. After Starfall, not much changes, she still teases Penny, but they just have the addition of being members of Team Star.
She befriends Arven after she discovers Toothless (more on him later) and they slowly bond as they battled Titans and collected Herba Mystica. Neglectful mothers and absent fathers make them sympathize with each other, and mutual teasing and friendly fights make them best friends. They also mutually call “bullshit” on each other when the other starts going quiet about stuff that’s bothering them.
Nemona and her are rivals to enemies to friends to girlfriends. Nemona’s cheery and sunny disposition clashes with Nalo’s cynicism, but they get along it’s part of the reason why they like each other. Nemona often tries to get Nalo to see the bright side and be a part of the school community, and Nalo gives Nemona the brutal honesty she needs sometimes. She and Nemona start dating sometime during Teal Mask (which I place after Indigo Disk) after both realizing how much they loved the other’s company.
Nurse Miriam was the first adult that Nalo felt she can talk to honestly. She visited Miriam’s office very often, be it to talk or because she crashed Toothless again and the two developed a genuine mother-daughter relationship. Nalo’s mom wanted her to return home at one point so she wouldn’t have to pay for dorms, but Miriam stepped in and let Nalo live with her, Ms. Dendra and Tulip (Miriam, Dendra, and Tulip are one big poly relationship and no one can stop me), and after some time, Miriam does adopt Nalo.
As for her other two moms: Dendra tries to get her pumped up and is usually the one to get her out of the bed in the morning when Nemona can’t. She initially hated Tulip when she challenged her gym, but communication is a thing and their relationship slowly improving, Nalo slowly learning about make-up from Tulip.
Toothless is a koraidon and Nalo’s ace pokemon. Nalo saw Toothless fall out of the sky and was quick to investigate, she had some food with her which she used to heal him… and accidentally formed a bond with him. She tried returning him to Arven, but he refused to go back with Arven so she begrudgingly brought him home with her. He was her only other pokemon when she was in Team Star, and kept him out of his pokeball a lot, she formally named him after she was kicked out of Team Star, he comforted her, and she learned how to ride him (I’ll explain later). She rid various pokemon in Alola but mastered driving Toothless, often scaring people by running at them at top speed and leaping over them, and Toothless loves it. He’s also a big cat who steals her things and insists on getting the most attention from others, he’s often the one who keeps her in check and makes sure she doesn’t over exert herself.
Misteria is her shiny Meowscarada and is second to Toothless. She was given Misteria at an event for abroad students, Miriam gave Nalo Misteria as the other starters didn’t seem to like her and Misteria refused to even come out of her cage. She loves being a mischievous little gremlin, and hates to be touched, being defensive since her shiny coloration made her the target for hunters. Nalo is the only one who may pet her.
Haki ʻāʻī is Nalo’s Talonflame and the main form of air transport. Haki ʻāʻī found Nalo as she tried to out speed Toothless as a fletchling, which made Nalo want to catch her. Haki ʻāʻī helped her through the gym circuit and is her fastest-flying pokemon. Haki ʻāʻī is Toothless’ main rival.
Dusty is a Midnight Lycanroc that Nalo tripped on her way to Cortondo, and his love of digging soon caught her heart. He’s great at solo ground races, his main strategy being to dig under his opponent and trip them.
Haehae is a Garchomp that Nalo caught on her gym circuit, specifically in Colonnade Hollow where it challenged Toothless, believing him to be a worthy opponent. But Toothless developed a crush on Haehae and makes Haehae a little cuddlier. Haehae is one of Nalo’s strongest pokemon, being a member of the team she uses as a Team Star boss.
Creciente is a Roaring Moon she caught post-Area Zero when some Paradox pokemon were slowly escaping Area Zero and Her, Nemona, Penny, Arven, and Team Star teamed up to capture the escapees. She thought it was so cool she just had to keep it, and it’s part of her Team Star Team which consists of Toothless, Haehae, and Him.
Some Misc. Pokémon that she has but doesn’t exactly use for her main team are:
- Makua, an Alolan Meowth who follows her from Alola. Meowths always followed her back in Alola like guardian angels watching over her. This one followed her all the way to Paldea, it tries staying hidden but will happily cuddle up with her on stormy nights.
- Ola is a Lurantis who protects her mountain top garden. She caught it as a Fomantis because it reminded her of home in Alola.
- Akahele, an Absol she befriended in Alola years ago and reunited with several years later. She tries her best to keep Nalo out of danger… but it’s tough.
- Enekini is her dragon type Starmobile, it has the ability rain dish and knows rain dance.
Growing up in Alola, Nalo struggled in every social department: Her mother often neglected her, her love of chaos scared potential friends away, and her love of chaos made other kids warn each other about her. She was 10 during the events of Sun and Moon and was attacked by a ‘Monster’ during said events, being trapped under rubble, and she was found a week later, she had to have her legs amputated due to infection which is when she met my OC Ilex who built her a pair of legs that could “pass” for real ones when covered.
She was expelled from various schools across Alola, with her most recent expulsion being for riding a Tauros through the halls of the school (she asserts no one was harmed and there was minimal property damage). This was the last straw for Nalo’s mother who was now threatening to send her to the International Police Youth Agent Academy, which Nalo saw as a death sentence, and if she was expelled from her next school, she’d be sent straight to the academy.
She was sent to Paldea, met Penny on the bus ride from the airport, and met Nemona while she was moving into her new dorm. It was also at her dorm that she noticed something falling out of the sky, she rushed to investigate and discovered Toothless, feeding him a bit of a sandwich she was saving for breakfast. Toothless was thankful, and Nalo’s kindness made him want to stick with her, much to her reluctance. She also met Arven who tried taking Toothless back… but Toothless wanted to be with Nalo, so she kept him.
There was a starter pokemon event where she met Miriam and got Misteria… but it was outside the event that she met Mela who went on to introduce her to the rest of Team Star. She arrived in Paldea mid-summer and spent the rest of the summer and some of the first months at school bonding with Team Star. What made her leave was Clavell’s threat to expel Team Star
She couldn’t admit why she was leaving the team, but Mela had a crush and her heartbreak was masked by anger which led to her saying Nalo had declared war on them. She escaped on Toothless’ back… and she cried on a nearby hill, Toothless comforted her, and she gave him his name.
The Treasure Hunt begins and she decides to do the gym circuit since it reminded her of the Island Challenge (when she isn’t a fan of battling), which made Nemona excited, hoping she had the potential for a friend and rival. Arven asked for her help in defeating titans, Cassiopeia recruited her to Operation Starfall, and she now got to go through the main game of Pokemon Scarlet. I won’t go into detail, but let me highlight some moments in each storyline:
She and Arven didn’t get along during their first Titan, but she quickly changed her tune when she learned he was trying to heal his Mabosstiff and apologized for being an ass. She saw right through Clavell’s disguise but just rolled with it. She had a hard time battling her former friends, wishing she could hang out with them again. She hates Tulip and Iono, and has mixed feelings about the other gym leaders, but despised how set Nemona was on making them her rival.
The day soon came when she had to battle the Elite Four… at the same time Arven was taking on the last titan and that night she’d battle Cassiopeia. The Elite Four was tough and she kept nearly losing and kept getting worried for her teammates, Nemona talks to her before she can battle Geeta… and she blows up at Nemona: She doesn’t want to battle and she doesn’t want to be molded into Nemona’s ideal friend, so she abandons the gym circuit completely. She gets to Arven, and they defeat the Fake Dragon Titan and save Mabosstiff.
She has the battle with Cassiopeia, learning it’s Penny, and watches as Team Star reunites. Clavell takes back his threat of expulsion and brings up the Star Training Centers. Nalo is set to leave… but Mela reveals she told the others the situation and she’s welcomed back into the team with open arms.
She got a strange call one morning from Sada… Arven got it too, they now had to go down to Area Zero, and Nalo recruited Penny to help hack for the team, and Nemona overheard their plans, threatened to tell Clavell, and joined too. Nalo tries to keep Toothless calm but he hides away, and Arven and Penny’s fighting means she assigns herself as the team captain as they venture down, learning about Arven’s mom and the paradox pokemon. Penny and Arven bond, Nemona and Nalo salvage their friendship, and Nalo discovers the truth about Arven’s mom, confronting the android built in her image and she trusts Nemona to take on the final battle and command Toothless’ battle form.
Afterward, she gives Arven time to heal, and Nemona formally apologizes for trying to mold Nalo into her rival and agrees to do something Nalo likes… she regrets it immediately as Nalo takes her on a ride on Toothless where they nearly die multiple times. She realizes her love of speed and starts a racing club at Naranja Academy: The Comets. Giacomo and Ortega are the first members.
