[hider=The Calm Heart of Courage]
[b]Name:[/b]  Bernard Sumner

[b]Age:[/b]  19

[b]Starting Location:[/b]  Feyhollow Town

[b]Rank:[/b]  Expert

[b]Organization:[/b]  None

[b]Occupation:[/b]  Pokemon Research Assistant (Field Work)

[b]Appearance:[/b]  Standing at 5'11”, Bernard is a slender guy with wavy platinum blonde hair past his ears, murky brown eyes, darker eyebrows, and slight stubble.  He most often wears a green button-up shirt with black cuffs, black track pants with a single vertical green stripe on each leg, a triangular gray backpack, and a wool beanie.  Large, black-rimmed rectangular glasses also adorn his nose.

[b]Biography:[/b]  A largely friendless childhood spent chiefly in Central City with frequent trips to relatives in Feyhollow Town changed completely when he was introduced to Pokemon.  At fourteen years of age, he gained his first Pokemon, and in one fateful summer he went on a journey with his older brother Julian.  He caught many Pokemon, and starting with a Starly he solidified his naming theme: halves of duos from stories.  Julian, amused, named his Pokemon after those duos other halves.  Both brothers, afflicted by social anxiety in their own ways, found the idea of individuals seeking their other halves to be amusing.  Bernard dreamed of finding someone to call his best friend and his other half on his journey -someone who liked Pokemon as much as he- but he did not.  Instead, he returned to school the next year, outwardly very much the same but a very different person inside.

He continued to train his Pokemon, traveling when he could and becoming very involved in the Central City battling scene.  In Pokemon gyms, salons, centers, and so forth, he continued to look for someone who understood him, but he soon found himself distracted.  A girl he'd known most of his school years was undergoing a drastic change.  He'd always envied her propensity for getting everyone to like her, but when she effectively made an outcast of herself, he suddenly understood her much better.  With high school done with, he's continuing his Pokemon journey anew, and he can think of no better eventuality than to travel with Olivie Carreau.

[b]Personality:[/b]  Bashful and reserved almost to a fault, Bernard's is a presence few ever appreciate or grow accustomed to.  A high self-awareness coupled with a below-average self esteem means that he's not one much for socializing, but he's intelligent and observant.  In a way, his is a poetic, almost tragic soul.  He does enjoy taking the roads less traveled and finding beauty in things that most wouldn't take the effort to—just as he hopes that someone might do for him.  It's not difficult to tell he's totally fallen for Olivie, but he's so afraid of looking bad or strange in front of her that he can't spit it out.  Still, it's alright that she just lets him hang around.  Like most introverts, Bernard has a hidden side, and his is Pokemon.  He truly cherishes their companionship, and battles get him hyped in a way that nothing else really can.

[hider=Pokemon Party:] Painkiller – a male Bisharp.  Caught as a Pawniard, he proved himself time and time again, constantly improving his skills to become Bernard's number-one Pokemon.  Despite his fearsome appearance, he acts lazily and without much spirit.  Interacting with him gives the impression of a dull, uncaring individual, except when it comes to goofing around with his trainer or fellow Pokemon.  This is, though, an act of obfuscating stupidity.  Painkiller's true state is an extremely alert, paranoid, and serious warrior who fights with lethal precision and a complete lack of mercy.  In fact, for this reason, Painkiller is seldom used in battle anymore; instead, Bernard has been cultivating his ability with the moves False Swipe and Thunder Wave in order to catch more Pokemon.

Odile – a female Froslass.  During the course of Bernard's journey, he once happened upon a strange situation in a northern town.  With the aid of a wild Froslass, a cunning young woman tricked a man from a wealthy family into believing her to be a long-lost, dear friend from his childhood, while the real friend was led astray.  Bernard's intervention helped in sorting the situation out, and as punishment for the Froslass's interference he used Painkiller to capture her.  Odile gives off the impression of a serene, cold beauty, but she is as devious as her past would lead one to believe.  However, she is also selfless, and willing to prove herself again and again by sacrificing her own health for the team.  To these ends, her favorite moves include Bide, Disable, Attract, Double Team, Draining Kiss, Confuse Ray, Fake Tears, Toxic, Hex, and Destiny Bond.

Gretel – a female Lopunny.  Ever since she, as a Buneary, was separated from her best friend, a Bunnelby, by a trade, she's been gloomy and depressive.  In fact, she prefers not interacting with other Pokemon or her trainer, and is tough to control in battle.  Enough stress will eventually enrage her, bringing her into the fight, but at that point she seldom listens to commands.  Despite this moodiness, she does have a definite affinity for the theatrical.  She's easily drawn into drama, acting, and emotionally moving scenes, and if she's moved, she may very well abandon her predisposition to gloominess to act with renewed spirit.

Enkidu – a male Throh.  Enkidu is a simple Pokemon: he enjoys good food, fine drink, good company, and uproarious battling.  Quick to anger, but also quick to forgive, and even quicker with a laugh and smile, he's the epitome of the jolly giant.  He also tends to see himself as a paragon of justice, though to him, justice is what he feels is right.  Luckily, his gut is seldom wrong, and he manages to give off the image of a fun-loving hero.  On his own, his flaws in the realm of battling prevent him from being extremely effective, but as half of a dynamic duo he truly shines.

Scylla – a female Tentacruel.  Curiousness has defined Scylla from the first day she was captured as a Tentacool.  She cannot resist learning new things, but that optimistic-sounding statement can take a nasty turn as one considers her lack of self-restraint.  Discovering a new plant or watching a new Pokemon interests her just as much as seeing how much pain an opponent can take or how different Pokemon react to being poisoned.  Be it her toxins or her tentacles, Scylla just can't keep them out of trouble, and it has come back to bite Bernard several times.  His presence, though, is slowly reeling her in, and she's certainly curious enough about what kind of Pokemon she might become to give listening to him a shot.

Delilah – a female Staravia.  As the first Pokemon Bernard ever caught, she is a very close friend of his, but she happened to have an extreme aversion to battling.  At first, Bernard tried to work her through it, even managing to grow his little Starly into a Staravia, but after getting Painkiller, Scylla, and Gretel, he let her off the hook.  Her greatest pleasure is soaring through the skies, and her flight is the chief reason why Bernard is so widely traveled.

Romeo – a male Mr. Mime.  Despite being weak and more than a little eccentric, Samson is a genuinely nice and pleasant Pokemon, and Bernard has never regretted capturing him with Painkiller[/hider]
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