IzurichElijah Grayson
Tier A: ”You’ve passed many tests to get to this point. Consider this battle your final exam before the big leagues.”
Tier B: ”You’re doing well so far. Now it’s time to apply what you’ve learned up to this point.”
Tier C: ”Let this be a learning experience for the both of us. Ready to begin?”
Name:
Elijah Grayson
Age:
28
Gender:
Male
Birthplace:
Turffield
Gym Type:
Normal
Appearance:
Standing before you at 5’11’’ is a man in his late twenties, well-dressed in a tailored black suit complete with striped shirt and tie combo. If it were not so late in the afternoon, you would have seen him at his peak with a clean shave, but by now he’s gained the infamous five o’clock shadow. Observant steel-blue eyes peer out from beneath dark hair the shade of charcoal. A simple pair of black slacks and shined dress shoes complete his official look.
Outside the gym, Elijah will dress appropriately for the weather and steer as far away from the stuffy suit-and-tie as he can. His favorite warm weather attire will be a tee and shorts, as they’re comfy and easy to wear. The cooler months will see him layering up nicer earth-toned jackets and hoodies.
Outside the gym, Elijah will dress appropriately for the weather and steer as far away from the stuffy suit-and-tie as he can. His favorite warm weather attire will be a tee and shorts, as they’re comfy and easy to wear. The cooler months will see him layering up nicer earth-toned jackets and hoodies.
Personality:
Should Elijah have the choice in three keywords, they would be: methodical, attentive, and empathetic. Fortunately he is very close to the mark, as he applies everything he has ever learned to battles and social interactions alike. Every Pokémon and every human requires encouragement, compassion, and understanding. In his eyes everyone can always learn and improve, whether it's new or existing skills, so he does his best to make the most of every moment to be better.
There are times that he is accused of being cold and calculating during battles, when the reality is that he can become very engrossed with the activity and considers emotions to take a second place to maneuvers. The higher stakes his battles, the more concentrated and less energetic he will become.
Beyond the arena, Elijah is supportive of every combatant, win or lose. In fact, he has a tendency to aid losing trainers with training curriculums he writes up specifically for them to see more progress in the future. Winning trainers that keep in touch with him can expect little praise and more tips on how to adjust their tactics (should he deem that necessary).
Biography:
Hailing back to his childhood in Turffield, Elijah was fully in the stereotype of a teacher’s pet and studious type. The city was smaller two decades ago, and the school there was sorely lacking compared to Motostoke, Circhester, and Hammerlocke. Even during his pre-teen years, he sought out the library on a daily basis and would frustrate his peers with constant reminders of homework and tests.
One late weekend evening, scouring the non-fiction aisles of the local library, the young Elijah stumbled across a Smeargle doing the most blasphemous thing: painting inside the innocent inked pages of several study tomes. At first Elijah was furious, ready to throw hardbacks at the small creature, but the surprised Pokémon dropped its defaced book to reveal a beautiful rendition of the particular passage it was marked in. Inspecting the book closely, he sees that this mass-printed copy of the regional maps was wonderfully done in more color and detail than he had ever imagined.
Turning to the Smeargle, he apologized profusely and even attempted to ask it to show him more of its works; anything related to history is a big plus. It understood his request and happily agreed to this and their arrangement formed from tenuous ideological standoff to friendship to partnership. As Elijah grew up, he learned that his studies could take advantage of the newfound medium, his school career taking on less stress and even deepening the understanding that there are many ways to learn one thing.
His interest in battles didn’t come until his studies abroad. Upon graduating high school, he looked for more prestigious schools in other regions, ultimately switching colleges three times as he landed on education as his major. With his old Smeargle friend’s offspring in tow, they discovered there is more than simply entertainment behind battles and tournaments and even entered a few novice tourneys.
As soon as Elijah turned 24, he found his way back to Galar and applied to the Turffield gym as a gym trainer. In four short years, his part-time teaching and part-time training flourished into taking over as the new gym leader. Building up a name in his community, many look up to him for guidance and leadership beyond Pokémon. He has yet to take on the Champion’s challenge, but has had the time to take on all the current gym leaders at least once in unofficial matches.
Team:
Loci, Gigantamax Snorlax
Data, Porygon 2
Therium, Slaking
Nolzur, Smeargle
Yeth, Furfrou
Destrachan, Exploud
Aipom
Bouffalant
Lickilicky
Lopunny
Meowth
Eevee
Miltank
Relationships:
Generally, Elijah respects everyone and enjoys not having to teach outside of his job. Those that tend to bend or break the rules, however, may earn a stern look and, worst case scenario, a lecture. Thankfully, other Gym Leaders all know what they are doing in their respective gyms and battle tactics, so he’s less scolding and more likely to ask for stats and training routines.