Name: Tide Age: 36 Pronouns: He/Him Trainer Type: Hiker Hometown: Slateport City, Hoenn Appearance: A man of modest features, with rounded cheeks, soft features, and eyes the color of chestnuts. He's a bit heavyset, but not obese. and prefers to travel in the garb of a traditional hiker, sans the backpack. Personality: Kindly, curious, and thoughtful. History: Tide did not grow up yearning for adventure or the thrill of combat; he grew up in a bustling port city, with an ocean breeze against his skin, and a bustling marketplace bursting with wonders from across the world. He assisted his father at Stern's Shipyard, and learned about the pokemon they co-exist with from his mother. Once, he asked his father why they sink ships- don't people need them? The answer he recieved would stay with him forever: "The pokemon need them more." From that moment on, he paid more attention to his surroundings, and the life that inhabited them. The wingulls soaring overhead, the tentacool lurking off the shallows, the zigzagoon you could catch traces of off of route 110, and the eevee and the drifblim and the ninetails that arrived off the S.S.Tidal from regions unkown. And still, it's not their potential for combat that enthralled him, but the simple beauty of nature, of the soft brown coat of herdier, of the vivid blues of a frillish, of the gorgeous ribbons of a sylveon- oh, how he adored sylveon. He wished he could have one of his own, but finding an eevee to raise... It was outside of his reach, at the time. Or so he thought. His mother was aware of his fixations, and she was in no position to suppress them. Instead, discreetly, she conducted her own search. Not for giveaways or marketing, but for... Well... Something he could [i]raise[/i]. On his 10th birthday, as is tradition, Tide recieved his very first pokemon. Or, more specifically, he recieved an egg. He was confused, at first, but grew more excited when his mother told him to take care of it. "This is your responsibility now," she told him, and he accepted it with a cheer and an enthusiastic hug. For the next 28 days, he poured over every scrap of knowledge he could find on how to properly care for a pokemon egg, and at the end of those long 28 days, it finally hatched. It was an eevee. His very own eevee. Unbeknownst to him, his mother had travelled across Hoenn on a "family visit", and at some point in time, miraculously, she happened upon a pokemon daycare with an eevee egg. The trainer never returned for their pokemon, or the egg, and unfortunately... The eevee was in no condition to travel. From that moment on, Tide would never be seen without his small and fluffy partner bounding by his side. They trained together in their own ways, helping his father at the port, playing on the beach, and tentatively exploring route 110, although he was cautious of sending his precious eevee into battle. He would hate to see her get hurt! By 16, he entered into the Contest Hall to participate in beauty contests with his eevee. The crowds adored him, [i]especially [/i]the locals who knew him well, and by 18, he earned his first [color=ed145b][b]Cute Ribbon[/b][/color]. That very same day, at 8 years old, his eevee evolved into sylveon, right on stage. It was the happiest day of his life. Not long after, his mother sat him down and asked him a very important question: what does he want to do with his life? There were no wrong answers here. He could pursue more Beauty Contest ribbons and rise in fame, or he could do something else entirely. But he was coming of that age where he needed to [i]choose[/i]. What is he going to do? He thought long and hard about this, and while he would have liked to pursue more Cute Ribbons, he understood that that was a fantasy. It was a fun hobby in his youth, but it's not something he could make a living off of. And more importantly... He knew why she was asking. It's not something he had ever brought up before, out of respect for his mother, but he had seen the gym badges. He'd seen the longing in her tired gold eyes. The way she watched the occasional pokemon battle that sprung up in Slateport. And he'd heard her recount stories, more than once, of her and her altaria's travels across Hoenn, and how she never got to finish her adventure. Although he wouldn't be doing it stritcly for himself, he decided then he would become a proper pokemon trainer, and he would fulfil her dream in her stead. The way her eyes lit up... That made it the second best day of his life. It helped that she gave him her own pokemon, altaria. The old thing could use a refresher, and she was more than happy to return to battle. So it is that Tide set out from Slateport City with sylveon and his mother's altaria, ready and eager to pursue his first gym badge. No sooner had he stepped foot on route 110, however, was he attacked by a poochyena! Altaria and sylveon were quick to knock it out, but altaria... He hadn't considered that she was a high level pokemon, and she hadn't exactly pulled her punches. It was all Tide could do to bring it to the Slateport pokemon center as swiftly as he could. The nurse informed him that the poochyena was in a bad shape, but would make a recovery. That's when Tide understood the responsibilities he had been given. Not just for his pokemon, but for others as well. He vowed, then, that he would nurse poochyena back to full health, and he made sure altaria understood what she had done. She seemed remorseful, at least. When the time came to release poochyena back into the wild, something strange occured: it wouldn't leave. It seemed [i]afraid [/i]to go back, more afraid of the woods than the trainer that had KO'd it. Feeling bad for the poor thing, he decided to bring it along. And so there were three. The excitement of his first years as a trainer seemed to be an anomaly, because nothing quite as noteworthy repeated itself while he was in Hoenn; he encountered trainers, won battles, and finally overcame the Mauville gym, although it may be fair to say [i]altaria [/i]overcame the Mauville gym, as sylveon only participated in a couple battles against the gym's resident trainers, and poochyena... It still refused to battle. But that was alright, altaria seemed to be more than happy to tackle the challenge alone. What had his mother been like, he had to wonder, to own such a ruthless pokemon? Goals: To travel the world and gain enough renown as a trainer to make his mother proud. [u]Team[/u]: [hider=Sylveon] [b]Name[/b]: [b]Species[/b]: Sylveon [b]Appearance:[/b] Outside of the traits attributed to its species, sylveon also sports a Cute Ribbon somewhere on their body at all times. It is their most prized posession, and something that tends to catch the eye of trainers and non-trainers alike. [b]Personality[/b]: Graceful, cheerful, and competitive when it needs to be. Sylveon wasn't raised for battle, but beauty, and she rarely has to see intense combat, as Tide prefers to keep her in reserve. She can usually be found lazing around and socializing with other pokemon when not doing anything, and she appears to greatly enjoy attention. [b]Stats[/b]: Endurance: B Power: C Speed: C Adaptability: C Potential: A [/hider] [hider=Altaria] [b]Name[/b]: [b]Species[/b]: Altaria [b]Personality[/b]: Tide's second pokemon, and the pokemon his mother used during her trainer days, altaria is a [i]war machine[/i], exalting in the thrill of battle with Take Downs and Dragon Breathes that shatter stone and will in equal measure. Although she may appear soft, with those cloudy wings and peacockish appearance, she displays the spirit of a true dragon type, and is typically the first to see combat... And oftentimes the last. [b]Stats[/b]: Endurance: S Power: A+ Speed: C Adaptability: B Potential: D [/hider] [hider=Mightyena] [b]Name[/b]: [b]Species[/b]: [b]Personality[/b]: Nursed back to health after attacking Tide on route 110, mightyena has never quite recovered his trust for other trainers, but he's comfortable enough around Tide and his enterouge of pokemon. He's quick to growl, but he's also rather shy, and reluctant to battle unless it is neccesary. Sylveon will typiclly step in for him if needed, but at times, Tide will push him into battle if the type matchup is favorable to him. Overall, mightyena is a rather corwardly creature, but he's capable of inflicting damage when the need arises. [b]Stats[/b]: Endurance: C Power: C Speed: B Adaptability: D Potential: ??? [/hider] [hider=Gardevoir] [b]Name[/b]: [b]Species[/b]: Gardevoir [b]Personality[/b]: Although appearing cold and distant, gardevoir is actually deeply compassionate, and fiercely protective of her found family. She keeps watch for percieved threats with a stoic demeanor, and is utterly ruthless in combat, although she is not [i]cruel[/i]. Never cruel... [b]Stats[/b]: Endurance: C Power: A Speed: D Adaptability: C Potential: C [/hider] [hider=Buizel] [b]Name[/b]: [b]Species[/b]: Buizel [b]Personality[/b]: Rescued from an abusive trainer, buizel is fiercely loyal to Tide and his fellow pokemon, ready and willing to be sent to the front lines, even against [color=fff200][b]electric types[/b][/color]... Outside of battle, he is a lively thing, pergaps anxious, even, when wanting to engage. He tends to run off and explore his surroundings, but is none too eager to socialize with other pokemon (Unless sylveon coaxes him into it), and is never far from his trainer's side, preferring to stay very close, especially when other humans are around. [b]Stats[/b]: Endurance: D (Buizel has a particular resistance to electric-type moves) Power: C Speed: B Adaptability: B Potential: B [/hider]