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BugmanKaori Ginkgo
"Buy my balls? First one's freeee~"
Full Name: Kaori Ginkgo
Age: 21
Year at the Institute: Second Year
Favorite Color: Yellow
Thesis Subject: The Effects of Speciality Pokeballs on the Capture and Growth of Pokemon.
Appearance: Ginkgo is a gremlin. Small of stature and slight of build, maybe a hair over 151cm (~5ft) if she stretches. But that delicate frame is offset by the woman’s rather rough style and mischievous eyes. Her sun-kissed (or more often sunburnt) limbs are covered in tattoos of wildly varying quality and styles with little rhyme or reason to any of them, a physical mark of her impulsive, reckless nature.
Her clothes are typically well worn and loose: lightweight tee shirts and tanks for tops, baggy cargos for bottoms held up by the handy-dandy tool belt (that’s putting in the finest of work trying to hold up those heavy pants on her tiny frame). A beat up trucker hat often sits upon her sandy hair (worn more often than not in loose twintails), frayed and distressed, just the way she likes it. That’s not to say that Kaori can’t dress up - she’s in possession of the obligatory dress or two and we simply mustn’t forget the lab coat - but those are her ass-kissing clothes, for when she really really needs to make a good impression. If she can get away with it though, you’re getting comfy Ginkgo.
Personality: Ginkgo is a gremlin. Repeated for emphasis. Were she a Pokemon, she’d be an Impidimp. Since she is not, however, the girl settles for simply being impish. A brat from birth, really. Pranks, little itty-bitty white lies, Ginkgo’s all about that harmless nuisance stuff. There’s no malice in it, mind you - it’s just for laughs. She’s just as enthused about being the target of shenanigans as she is being the conductor. Fun is fun, and Kaori loves fun.
Kaori also loves people. Extroverted as they come, she laughs freely and often, right at home in a group. Is it egotistical or arrogant to crave the spotlight? Yes. Moving on.
Okay, fine, it’s not just a hunger for attention that motivates her in a group. It’s mostly that, let’s not sugarcoat it, but not entirely. Kaori likes to consider herself a sort of platonic matchmaker. If person A and person B have similar hobbies or interests but don’t interact, Kaori will make it her mission to bring the two together, even if it means taking up a topic she’s not remotely interested in. Call it meddling but...well, no, actually that’s just all it is. Meddling. She meddles. It’s not a great trait and has bitten her in the ass several times. But to her defense, she can’t help it. She wants her friends to be friends with each other as well. Because that means that everybody’s having a great time, nobody feels left out, and… they’re not relying on her to keep the group together. Which means there’s less pressure.
Because Kaori cracks under pressure. It’s a terrible fate - craving the attention and approval of one’s peers while simultaneously being terrified of the weight of the expectation that comes with it. She crumbles. Shuts down. Factory reset.
Kaori.exe has stopped responding.
She’s just not built for it, the shackles of responsibilities. It’s suffocating. Burdensome. She’s a free spirit. Creative. Independent. Impulsive. Reckless. When following her heart, she thrives. She lives.
So why academia? It's not exactly a beacon for creativity, all that science mumbo jumbo. Why would one so ill-suited to the field choose to follow that path? Who knows. Ask her and she’ll say that it just felt right.
Or because, and let’s be completely honest here, them Devon and Silph machines ain’t cheap. And it just feels better to spend grant money than your own money, y’know? Sure, she’ll have to do some stuffy nerd stuff to earn her shiny toys, but that’s stuff that she’d already be doing on her path to build the best balls anyway. The name of the game is fleecing the government out of as much play money as possible and man… Greedy Ginkgo’s a gamer.
Bio: Kaori Ginkgo sprouted up in Azalea Town, the youngest of five and the sole girl amongst a gaggle of guys, though with how the tomboy turned out, one would be forgiven for thinking the Ginkgos went six for six on sons. Ever bought some Charcoal from the Azalea Town Pokemart? Chances are one of Kaori’s brothers was responsible for that. The Ginkgo family ran the town’s Charcoal Kiln and you best believe that growing up, Kaori collected her fair share of branches for the family business.
And in another life, that story might spin off into a tale of how Kaori Ginkgo the Charcoal Princess ruthlessly united the charcoal makers across Johto and Kanto to form a Charcoal Empire that would bring the world to its economic knees before the mighty environmentally questionable charcoal fist.
Ahem.
Luckily, Kaori met Kurt. Well, specifically Kurt’s granddaughter, but yes, that Kurt. Apricorn Kurt the Ball Baron…just, y’know, don’t let him hear you call him that. There weren’t many young girls in town so the little Kurtling clung to Kaori as a big sister figure, a role that Kaori took on eagerly.
And the more time that Kaori spent with Maizie, the more the little one’s grandfather warmed to the Charcoal Princess. It went both ways, mind you. Kaori originally saw Kurt as a prickly old codger. And while she was right, she did become fond of the old man. Her curiosity led to her taking an interest in the man’s craft. Don’t get things wrong, Kaori loved charcoal as much as the next girl, but the creative ceiling in that field was...well, low would be putting it mildly. There was a certain artistry to what Old Man Kurt did.
Eventually, Kaori would even head over to the old man’s place even when Maizie was staying with her parents, desperate to figure out how in the hell Kurt made them damn balls. She would demand the old man teach her how to do it. He would refuse. She would demand again. He would refuse again. An endless cycle.
Kurt eventually broke. Could you blame him? Sure, the first few times the brat asked, it was easy to say no. But after the hundredth? Or thousandth? The stubborn brat was persistent. And maybe he saw a bit of himself in her. Or maybe she was just projecting her interpretation of the relationship onto him much later down the line, who could say? In any case, Kurt eventually agreed to take her on as an apprentice. Not that there was anything formal about the arrangement. She kept asking and eventually one day the ‘No’ turned into ‘FINE! Get me my tools.’ After that, Kaori became a fixture around the workshop.
The pair bickered over everything, Kaori must have gotten ‘fired’ a thousand times over, and to an outsider, the whole arrangement must have looked a mess. But the fact of the matter was that they were both incredibly passionate about the craft. Kaori took to it like a bird to flight, showing a remarkable aptitude and in Kurt’s eyes, a profound potential.
It was Kurt’s suggestion that Kaori try for Laventon. In the years that had passed since that little brat first banged on his door and demanded he teach her, Kurt had indeed bestowed upon Kaori everything he could. Not everything he knew - an old man’s gotta have some secrets still - but enough that there was nothing else he could do for her. And he knew that when she applied herself, Kaori was a bright girl. The field of Ball Studies wasn’t very large, but Kurt’s word had weight. Silph and Devon would fight each other to get his successor on board.
Kaori, to her credit, rose to the challenge. Her funding secured through generous scholarships offered by both companies, her recommendation letters from both Kurt and Professor Elm (the old man had called in a favor) painted her favorably, and her proposal was well-written. The only thing that could possibly go wrong…
No. Nothing. Nothing could possibly go wrong. Kaori bottled up all of that fear and anxiety and stashed it away. Y’know, like healthy people do. Surely that won’t bite her in the ass. Surely not.
Gingko survived her first year at the institute without incident, relying heavily on her newfound friends to keep her grounded, and her ramshackle little custom pokeball sidegig to keep her creative juices flowing. But how sustainable will that be? How much more can that bottle truly hold before it finally bursts?
Pokémon:
Name: Boss
Species: Galarian Farfetch’d
Ability: Scrappy
Bio: Gingkos use Farfetch’d. It’s a tradition. Now, as to what exactly was a Galarian Farfetch’d doing in the Ilex Forest when Kaori’s father went searching for his daughter’s partner, who’s to say? Truth be told, the Gingkos just thought the Farfetch’d to be a little moody. Kaori didn’t learn that her partner was a bit of a world traveler until she had started at the Institute. It…didn’t change much between the two, but it’s definitely nifty to know. As her first partner, Kaori is probably closest to the Boss, who keeps the others in line. He’s very much the boss of the crew, Kaori’s right hand man, with the others in the crew looking to him for leadership.
Name: Goob
Species: Heracross
Ability: Guts
Bio: The first pokemon actually caught by Kaori. An absolute menace of Azalea town, the Heracross had spent several summers bullying the other pokemon around the town, all so that she could keep all of the sweet sweet nectar to herself. Kaori and Boss faced off against her to protect Kurt’s prize Apricorn tree, with Kaori narrowly managing to catch the menace in a Love Ball - the first successful pokeball that Kaori had managed to make. Now you might think that having been captured, the Heracross would no longer terrorize the town. You’d be wrong. Far be it from Kaori to stand between her new bestie and her need to munch down on the sweet stuff. In a way, it was rather relatable. Kurt’s tree was mostly spared though…with Boss now becoming the Heracross’ new favorite toy. Call it love. Kaori sure did, much to Boss’ chagrin.
Name: Buddy
Species: Parasect
Ability: Dry Skin
Bio: Some people choose their pokemon. Others have a Paras accidentally step on their freshly made Friend Ball while they’re having a lil snooze in the forest. Kaori may not have meant to catch the Paras, but the little guy became so attached to her that she couldn’t imagine not having him around. The team mascot by unanimous decision.
Name: Champ
Species: Scyther
Ability: Technician
Bio: Were you aware that you were in the presence of a Bug-Catching Contest Champion? No? Don’t worry, Kaori will definitely let you know. Kaori came across the Menace of National Park at the tail end of the competition. It was a fierce contest, pushing Kaori to her physical limits, but after tossing over ten balls at the beast, it all came down to her final ball. Be it by luck or providence, it worked, and Kaori had managed to snag the biggest, meanest Scyther to call the National Park ho- oh? What’s that? The Scyther wasn’t big? ...he was actually a runt? And a huge softie besides? Huh.
Truth be told, it was a miserable rainy day, so the turn out for the contest was super low, and even then, most of the contestants called it quits once the rain worsened. The regular crowd, the real contestants, hadn’t even bothered to show up. Kaori was only one of four to even bring a pokemon to be judged, and by all rights, she nearly lost to an absolute unit of a metapod brought in by a child. Still, she managed to eke out a win and got to bring Champ the runt Scyther into the Hooligan Squad. Definitely the biggest wildcard of the group, Champ is as reckless as his trainer, making poor decisions in battle just so he can…look...cool. He’s challenged Boss for the spot of top dog plenty of times, but most of the time Goob puts him in his place.
Quirks:
-As mentioned earlier, Kaori has a bit of a sidegig where she makes custom pokeballs for people. Not exclusively out of apricorn (those cost more), but the option is there for the right price. Cheaper if they agree to record data for the effectiveness of the balls on their new captures for her.
-The tattoos are pretty much exclusively done by friends for practice. She gets fun ink, they get a willing canvas for whatever they want to draw, quality not mattering at all and a custom pokeball job. It’s a standing offer for all of her artsy friends.
-Kaori likes to break rules / traditions / etc, just for the thrill of it. Small crimes, nothing that hurts anybody, but y’know. It helps give her a little burst of adrenaline to get through the day.
-Habitually says yes to plans with little to no context. It’s more fun that way.
