Member
Gender: Female.
Age: Thirteen.
Hometown / Region: Lacunosa Town, Unova.
"...wait, remember what?"
Appearance:
A petite Trainer at 59 inches, a delicate one at 76 pounds; with those factors combined with a perceptible sense of girlishness, she irrefutably looks her age. Her other, more prominent features are attributable to genealogy. Portia has the red hair of her father and the grey eyes of her mother, yet, oddly, only seemingly attained the pale complexion of the former.
In the world of travelling Pokémon Trainers, it is much preferred that outfits be as recyclable as possible, an article like a jacket that can be thrown on repeatedly, a dark pair of shorts that don't stain as well. Portia's attire applies to this sense of practicality; it is, at every moment, the same, and regardless of any minuscule nuances or added touches, it appears utterly identical, one day to the next: an outfit dominated by dark-grey, subsequently lightened with vibrant highlights of orange, yellow, and green supplied through accessories and seemingly-extraneous details, such as the button on her chest. It is an outfit born of meticulous crafting and a mind much more attuned to fashion sense and color scheme than she. Truthfully, in spite of the comfortable shoes and thigh-shielding tights perfect for combing tall grass, Portia's ensemble can leave a very dainty and doll-like impression, one additionally ascribable to the sense that she wears pretty clothing chosen for her out of obligation.
Personality / Main Ambition(s):
As laconic as she is, Portia retains a sense of ardor imperishable. She has a determined, self-righteous belief in herself and, being a teenager driven to loathe subordination, cooperation is not a privilege she will easily provide. Portia is emotionally-driven and easy to emotionally overwhelm. She is intrepid as well as observant and shrewd. Most predominantly, she is lost. The past year of her life has been bewildering, a consuming nightmare that has eternally branded her, and now, Portia is on a mission to not only pursue her previous passion but to rediscover the spirit that makes up who she really is, for all that fervor and temper only emerges today in fizzling flashes, temperamental sparks of personality. Otherwise, Portia is drone-like, detached from the world around her and gazing outwards with glazed-over eyes, both inquisitive and dispassionate. Instinct urges her to take interest in everything, but what does it really matter if she cannot remember what she sees?
History:
Portia's predestination as a Pokémon Trainer was essentially set upon her conception. Assistant Professor Ana Basil had lived in Alola all her life and attempted the island trials herself before becoming a participant in the scientific efforts to study how the distribution of foreign Yungoos had impacted the populations of Melemele Island. Fiacre O'Mahony, an acclaimed fashion designer and avid breeder from Lumiose of mixed Kalis and Unovian origin, met her whilst on vacation in Hau'oli City. It was inevitable their daughter would be deeply involved with Pokémon. In fact, the girl displayed considerable promise in, and observable obsession of, the art of Training, beginning from the moment she tried to catch a Tranquil with a pretend Poké-Ball at six years old.
Portia's parents moved to Lacunosa where she was born, a town isolated from much of the region, framed by tangled woodland and lying just northwest of the mighty Giant Chasm. It was non-ideal for a beginning Trainer and yet Portia studied on. She consumed textbooks in a handful of days. Her room was smothered with written notes and memorandums. She attended a Pokémon-exclusive education right in her hometown at a public Trainer's School, and from there, learning everything she possibly could became even more of an exhaustive effort. Portia was unnaturally convicted—the passion exhibited by her parents only contributed to her pedantic personality—and, therefore, she was perceived to be unnaturally gifted. The greatest moment in Portia's young life succeeded her greatest achievement: she graduated three months early. At 11, her parents knew she was ready to enter the real world, and enrolled her in the Straiton City Trainer's Academy. It was a school toted as the greatest in the region, offering genuine experiences in the field and opportunities to learn from members of the League and Elite Four, providing parents had the resources.
From that point onward, Portia's experiences fail to matter until the night she returned to Lacunosa to bid her parents farewell before her journey. She got her license at some point after her participation at the academy ended. She got a Pokémon partner of her own too, eventually—Tapu forbid she remember what it was. Their partnership was promising, she can recall, but ephemeral.
It felt very cold that night, unnaturally cold. The townspeople huddled in their homes, once out of tradition, now out of fear. A battleship cut through the sky. Were they at war?
The ice came down in massive spates and Lacunosa was frozen over by the Neo Plasma brigade. Portia woke up hospitalized in the succeeding hours of the early morning and soon found she could remember barely anything at all. Since then, she felt her flame succumb to the chill. Though, on a more positive note, she is recovering relatively well. Her memories are slowly, but undeniably, returning to her and over a year of recuperation in the less-stressful Flocessy Town beside her father has worked substantial wonders on her. However, even in the midst of their success, the doctors, counselors, and various neurological experts paid bountifully by Fiacre—as well as the desperate father himself—could not remain ignorant towards Portia's unhappiness. Mourning over her mother and her condition could not monopolize her life—this was for certain—and she eventually made a rousing plea to her overseers to let her Train again, and yet this yearning was waved off by almost the entirety of them. They "knew" what was best for her: healing here through their means. Portia was incensed and Fiacre, finally, noticed. Most importantly, he understood. If his daughter was to be a Trainer, then so be it, and she surely wouldn't be one here.
Mr. O'Mahony, through conviction and, patently, cash, convinced Alolan professors to prepare for his daughter's arrival and, unsuspectingly to her, watch over her. While doctors were hesitant about sending their patient overseas, their client was not, and Portia was thus set free. No longer a caged bird, but also with only one of her father's Pokemon, a notepad, a few changes of clothes, and the bare essentials; with all her father has provided for her, he could afford little else, not that Portia wouldn't feel distasteful about relying on further assistance. As she sees it, this is her moment, the point where she can grope for the reigns directing her life and eventually hold them tightly in-hand.
Added Context:
The crash caused Portia to sustain serious neurological damage, to the point where she acquired anterograde amnesia, or the inability to store short-term recollections. While Portia can easily, unconsciously remember long-term memories, concepts ingrained into her consciousness through thorough practice, like how to speak, how to ride a bike or even, because of how zealous she was about Training, how to catch a wild Pokémon, she cannot remember declarative details: what she may have eaten for lunch—regardless of when that was—, questions she has been asked, the name of someone else or the color of their shirt. Portia can obtain new procedural ("long-term") memories through repeated exposure and is usually able to respond to a direct inquiry or statement after it is repeated once or twice, possibly without reiteration at all if she can latch onto familiar words or phrases. Much of her semantic memory remains in tact and doctors have attested to the possibility of Portia being relieved from amnesia altogether with gradual exposure to experiences which trigger her remembrance and the own, unalterable healing of her brain with time.
Pokémon Team
Trivia:
- Coming into Alola, she was issued a special license qualifying her as a Trainer of Psychic-type Pokémon. This is a necessity to have due to the potential, pernicious power Psychic Pokémon can present.
- Portia's favorite snack is crackers with cheese.
- "O'Mahony" is an Irish surname that means "bear-calf".
- The population of Cuba is 11.26 million.
