Jacen Zidar

The Player:

OOC Account: Xatch
Age: 19
Activity Level: Soon to be very high.
Other Characters: None (yet)

Basic Character Information:

Name: Jacen Zidar
Alias: None.
Sex: Male
Age: 40 (born May 14th)
Allegiance: Team Pravus
Position: Commander - previously, anyway
Species: Pokemorph - Seviper
Sexuality: Bisexual


Hobbies:

• Chess
  
• Listening to music
  
• Reading; particularly non-fiction
  
• Practicing with instruments (he plays piano and a couple simple wood reed instruments such as the recorder)
  
• Magic tricks, particularly card manipulation
  

Likes:

• Learning new things
  
• Mental challenges
  
• Peace and Quiet
  
• Spending time with his pokemon
  
• Snow
  

Dislikes:

• Fighting
  
• Hot days
  
• Asparagus
  
• Confrontational or hot-headed people
  

Physical Appearance
Information:

Hair Color: Jet black, with a few highlights of purple and a gold streak by his left temple
Eye Color: Bright yellow-gold; slit-pupiled
Height: 5' 9"
Build: Jacen's build is average, his body having little to no muscle definition thanks to years of being unable to do much physically. He tends to lean a little toward the slender side thanks to a healthy diet and fast metabolism, but during the war his build began to move more toward being underfed. This has since faded slightly, although he still has that look of someone who has seen a bit too much violence of late.

Other Appearance Information:
Jacen is of average height, standing about 5’ 9” tall, with a build that leans a little on the slender side (but not too much). He has a fair metabolism, which allows him to remain at a healthy weight despite his lack of ability to do any real physical labor. His skin is lightly tanned from spending time out in the sun, but it’s hard to tell. Overall, he doesn’t make a very imposing figure, to say the least. There are some physical features, however, that make him very noticeable indeed.

Jacen’s straight hair is jet black, falling a couple of inches below his shoulders. He has taken to tying it back, but occasionally lets it down. The odd thing about it is the purple and gold streak that runs through it. Both of these streaks of color originate from a spot on the left side of his head just forward of his temple, and thus the streaks are often pulled back behind his ear. The royal purple and rich golden color trail all the way through his hair, right to the tips. One would think he dyed his hair that way, but that is actually how it grows naturally. His eyebrows are equally odd. They appear black, but are actually a very dark purple, with the ends closest to the corner of his eyes turning to the same rich gold color that can be found in his hair. This allows for much more subtle expressions than many other people could manage (and still have them be noticed, anyway), and Jacen takes full advantage of this.

His facial features are quite distinctive as well. He has naturally rather severe features, but not at all unpleasant. Indeed, many would consider him quite handsome by conventional standards (one of the blessings of having parents who go for looks). There are a couple things about him, however, that might make some people hesitant to approach him at first. His eyes are a bright yellow color, with vertical pupils not unlike those of a cat or snake. Few people will actually stare him in the eye for more than a moment or two, and even fewer will actually continue to look him in the eye while talking to him. Also, upon opening his mouth to speak or smile, one will notice a very distinctive feature of Jacen's: he has a pair of fangs where his eye teeth would normally be. These are quite a bit longer than usual, and form sharp points at the tips. They fit seamlessly with his lower teeth, their points just barely fitting into tiny holes in the lower set of gums. This feature doesn’t affect his speech at all, but the dark red color of those particular teeth can be a bit of a surprise to anyone who happens to notice.

Jacen dresses rather differently than most people. He likes to wear clothing that makes him look distinguished, and is not above buying rich brands simply for the sake of owning them (at least, around the people who would notice). He has a sense of style that few can match, and prefers clothing that others would normally consider formal. Thus, when he does not expect to be getting dirty any time soon, he usually wears formal pants, shined shoes, and a silk shirt under a dark blazer, complete with tie. When needed (aka, when he knows his usual clothing would be ruined), he exchanges this style for jeans and a cotton button-up shirt. As typical as they are, there is a reason so many people wear them. They’re durable, tear-resistant, and fairly warm as well. Regardless of what exactly he’s wearing, Jacen always carries a cane with him. This cane's head reaches just a little below his waist, a perfect height to help him stand. It is made of black steel (he prefers wood, but it is not quite sturdy enough for his needs). The head of the cane is shaped like the legendary pokemon Articuno’s head. Beyond that the cane has no distinguishing marks. Unlike some, who walk with a cane to make themselves look more distinguished, Jacen actually needs his. Jacen cannot walk more than a few steps without the cane, and must lean on something while standing. Technically, he should be in a wheelchair, but he is far too stubborn for that. As it is, he moves around at what many would consider a painfully slow pace. If he absolutely must hurry to get somewhere, he uses one of his pokemon to transport him.


Personal Related
Information:

Personality:
Jacen is the sort of person one looks to for advice; the sort of person who is expected to know what to do in a given situation. He might not seem this way at first glance, due to his relatively frail physical nature, but appearance is not everything. When he needs to, everything from his posture to his tone of voice commands respect. He is not demanding for the most part, and indeed his tone of voice and manner of speaking cannot be described as anything other than gentle most times. His patience with others is admirable, but there are times when he can get frustrated or irritated at others. When riled up this way, he can actually be quite frightening, but it happens very rarely, and never lasts long.

Despite this natural leadership ability, Jacen tends to work best alone, especially nowadays. This is due to his being a complete and utter perfectionist. He doesn’t settle for anything less than 110% out of everyone he works with, and this includes himself. He does not like those who slack off, and often if he sees someone sitting around doing nothing he will give them a task of some sort in order to get them moving. Unlike some people who hold similar thoughts, Jacen actually follows his own advice. It must be noted that he does not consider anything not involving physical activity idleness. As long as one's mind or body is active, one is not idle. He makes sure he instills the same drive in his pokemon as well.

Jacen can be extremely harsh on people and pokemon, but in his own unique way. He is understanding of failure - for not everyone can succeed all the time in everything - but only to a point. Beyond that point he loses respect for the person or pokemon in question, which is made abundantly clear in his words and actions toward them. One might almost consider him passive-aggressive in this situation, and he would not deny that accusation. But the fact remains that it works. Embarrassment is a much more effective teacher than simple direct punishment, and begets more long-term changes. It is a rare occasion for one to hear him verbally berating someone, and these occasions are usually the final straw in terms of Jacen ever relying on said person again. His praise is as sparing as his punishment. More often he shows his approval in subtle ways; a smile and nod, perhaps, at the most obvious.

Now, given this attitude he has, one might think that his pokemon would serve him reluctantly or be happy when he lets them go free. However, his pokemon are loyal to him unto death. He demands respect from them and gives respect in return when it is due. He is fair when it is deserved, and acts as a strict disciplinarian when it is needed. He does not baby his pokemon as some others do, and treats them like the intelligent creatures they are. He expects his pokemon to be able to think independently, and to be able to give themselves orders and work as a team when he isn’t around. This freedom that he gives them combined with his constant leadership makes them into very loyal creatures who would rather die than leave his side permanently.

Despite these rather strict standards, Jacen tends to be quite a pleasant person to be around... For the most part. Before the war, Jacen was quite personable. He was sociable - certainly moreso than many of the other Pravus higher-ups - and friendly, even a bit of a flirt at times. As the war escalated uncontrollably, however, this changed dramatically. Jacen became irritable more and more often, snapping quite frequently at anyone who disturbed him during his rare moments of rest. He spent his time in one of two places: out on the battlefield or alone in his private room at Team Pravus headquarters. During the worst of the fighting, he was almost completely unreachable, only spoken to by those above him in station whom he could not lock out. Now that he has returned, it is hard to say what he will be like.

History:
Jacen was born in the now-destroyed city of Windswept Heights, as the second of three siblings. He had an older brother named Tiege, and a twin sister who was named Alliya (or just Ally, for short). Tiege was two years older than he and Ally, and Jacen was born about ten minutes before his identical twin sister. The three siblings were inseperable after the age of seven or so, once they were all on roughly the same intellectual level. Jacen was born with working legs, and in fact was one of the fastest runners and climbers in the gang of children the three tended to hang out with. The three would climb up and down the cliffs, going even to places that most of the adults wouldn’t dare travel, and with good reason. They explored the more dangerous caverns, and even set up a fort in one of them, in which they played games of pretend, acting as pokemon hunters in a world before trainers had come along. It was a wonderful life, all in all. There was little to worry about except the next test in school or getting found out after stealing something out of the sweets shop down the street from their house.

Jacen’s mother was a pokemon trainer who had retired after completing the gym leader challenge. She had no desire to defeat the Elite and become the best trainer in the land (although there’s a good chance she could have done it if she really wanted to). Jacen’s father, meanwhile, was a pokemon breeder and owner of a day-care center. Jacen grew up around pokemon of every type, from huge charizards to tiny skiplooms to temperamental taurus. He loved them all, and he wanted a pokemon for himself. His pleading became more frequent once Tiege got his own pokemon at age ten. It was something of a family tradition, really. On the child’s tenth birthday, they would be given a single pokemon from their mother’s collection and sent out to capture one of their own. Tiege got lucky, and managed to find and capture a tropius for his own. Tiege named the pokemon Forge, and it proved to be a great help when they needed to get to (or off of) ledges that were too difficult to climb near. Once Forge had learned both Vine Whip and Fly, there was almost nowhere the trio couldn’t go.

When Jacen was ten years old, he and Ally were allowed to go out and get their own pokemon. They decided to stay together and try to get a pair of pokemon into a team battle, knowing that way they’d have a much better chance of catching both. It didn’t take too long to find a pair of pokemon. The two they found were already friends: a phanpy and a geodude. Working together, Jacen and Ally were able to defeat the two wild pokemon fairly easily with the help of the pokemon they’d brought along, and headed home with their newly-caught pokemon. Jacen began training his geodude (which he named Crag) immediately. It grew quickly, and evolved in a matter of months. Ally had no interest in battling, and used her phanpy as a pet. The three children and their pokemon continued to explore the cliffs, not caring at all about the warnings of their elders. None of their other friends had ever gotten seriously hurt. Why should they? However, their luck wouldn’t last.

Tiege and Jacen used to battle Forge and Crag fairly often, and the two pokemon were often at the Pokemon Center in town. The trio and Ally’s phanpy (Oliver) would go out to the cliffs anyway during these times, although they would usually stay a little closer to the safe areas than when they had the powerful pokemon with them. However, even this precaution didn’t help them stay completely safe. One day, after a sizeable storm blew through the area, the trio decided to go exploring again. Forge and Crag were in the Pokemon Center, which was nothing unusual by now. The rocks were slippery, but the three didn’t particularly mind. They stayed to the driest and safest ledges; the ones which sloped inland instead of out over the rocky shore below. However, they weren’t prepared for the threat of wild pokemon (which were rarely ever found out here). Ally and Jacen were climbing close to one another, while Tiege had dropped behind a little bit. They weren’t actually on the cliffs, but in a cavern. It was dimly lit – only the lantern that Oliver held with his trunk gave the cave any illumination whatsoever. Thus, both Ally and Jacen were caught by surprise when a colony of zubat suddenly flew out, screeching and calling to one another as they went. What pursued them was what the trio really should have been worried about. An angry lairon had been awakened by the zubat, and was stampeding straight towards them. Jacen and Ally darted behind a group of stalagmites, hoping that they would block the lairon from hitting them as it charged, ramming its forehead into the rock. Well, the pokemon didn’t hit them, but the ensuing cave-in did.

Jacen and Ally were both showered by falling rocks. Jacen tried to run out of the rockfall, but was hit by the lairon’s next charge as he showed himself through the gathering dust. Jacen scarcely remembers the event now. All he recalls is a sharp pain in his lower back where the pokemon rammed into him, flipping over into the air, and then hitting his head on a rock before passing out.

Jacen awoke about five hours later in a hospital. He and Ally had been rushed there as soon as Tiege had returned to town to get help. Ally wasn’t in the same room, but that wasn’t what Jacen noticed immediately. What he noticed was that he didn’t have any feeling at all from the waist down, starting at the spot he’d been hit. The doctor explained to him that the lairon’s charge had broken his spine, and he would probably be paralyzed for the rest of his life. There was physical therapy he could take that might help him get some mobility back, but it probably wouldn’t help much. Jacen had been 16 at the time, and just preparing to leave the town to go on the same gym leader challenge that his mother had. He was crushed by the idea that he might never be able to leave his own house again without a wheelchair. Of course, in the city of cliffs, it also meant that the wheelchair couldn’t leave the house, which put Jacen in the position of never being able to leave the house at all unless someone carried him. This was a huge blow to him, as independent as he was.

It wasn’t until almost three days later that he found out Ally had been killed in the cave-in.

For two years, Jacen did very little with his life besides falling deeply into his music. It was also during this period that he got involved in magic tricks, and has become a master of sleight of hand since then. During this time he also lost a lot of the confidence he had once had in himself. His family moved to Phelac City, which had roads that Jacen could navigate in his wheelchair. Still, he rarely went outside, and had no interest in socializing despite his loneliness. He still had Crag and Tiege, of course, but the pokemon scarcely ever left his pokeball except to help around the house a little bit, and Jacen didn’t like to let his brother see him like he was. All of them were miserable. Until, for Jacen’s 18th birthday, he received a gift from his father: a newly-bred cyndaquil, one who had never seen people and had never been socialized. The little pokemon had quite a fiery personality, however, and upon first exiting its pokeball decided to attack Crag despite the graveller’s great size. The fire did little damage, but the cyndaquil didn’t relent until it was utterly bereft of energy. The display prompted Jacen to get back into battling, at least for a while. Once he got back into it, he didn’t want to go back to being a recluse.

The next pokemon Jacen received was a pidgey, who served as a constant companion to him, as well as a means of getting around once it had evolved into pigeotto. By now, Crag was a golem, and the little cyndaquil that Jacen had named Thor was on the brink of evolving into a typhlosion. However, it wasn’t until he was nearly 20 that Jacen really got back into battling. There was a excellent reason for this, but one he doesn’t share with most people.

By this time, Jacen had gotten a limited amount of mobility back in his legs, although he couldn’t do much besides kick a little and stand for a few seconds (he couldn't stand up by himself). Still, it prompted him to brush off his old idea of taking the gym leader challenge, and he went to challenge the gym leader Damien with his three pokemon. On the way, he met up with a very strange-looking man who claimed to be a part of something called Team Pravus. He challenged Jacen to a battle, threatening to take him to the headquarters if he lost and turn him into some sort of genetics guinea pig. Jacen defeated the man in short order, but instead of simply going on his way, he asked to be taken to the headquarters. There he met with a group of the scientists who explained the idea of a “pokemorph” to him. More importantly, they explained to him that their experimenting might just give him the ability to walk again. After that, Jacen was sold. The fact that he was told it was reversible helped too, of course.

He phoned his family to explain things to them, but the conversation didn’t go too well. His father greatly disapproved of the genetic tampering, and his mother was concerned at best, having heard some terrible things about Team Pravus during her travels. Tiege was a bit sullen, but only because Jacen seemed to be leaving for good. He had become used to taking care of his paraplegic little brother, and didn’t like the idea of having to finally deal with his own problems caused by the death of his sister. Jacen didn’t talk to them for months, and by the time he finally did again, the “transformation” was complete. The next time he visited home, he was able to walk through the front door. He’d already quite literally tossed his wheelchair off a cliff, and his family was completely amazed at what they saw – both in the sense of his new mobility and his appearance. Jacen had been born with almost platinum blonde hair and had deep brown eyes. The difference was almost painfully obvious, but his family could see how much happier he was now, and so they didn’t complain. This new independence prompted Jacen to gain much of his old personality back, along with a distinctive, mature authoritativeness that had not been there before. He began collecting pokemon again, and developed quite a team.

Over the years, Jacen moved quickly through the ranks in Team Pravus thanks to his leadership abilities, the respect he earned from both his superiors and those under him alike, and his skill with training and battling pokemon. Living in the middle of the whirlwind of politics that made up Pravus, he also became quite good at dealing with people; reading and manipulating them subtly for his own ends. While he was never known for one great deed or another, Jacen always seemed to be involved somehow whenever one of the larger plans went well. He pursued only one or two goals on the side, the primary of which was to capture the legendary pokemon articuno. The ice bird was the only one out of the legendaries (as far as Jacen could tell) whose DNA could be used as a healing agent powerful enough to cure his lameness, once it had been combined with his own. Of course there were substantial risks, for Jacen found out during his research that the seviper DNA could not be removed as promised, and combining more than one kind of pokemon DNA into one person was hazardous at best, nevermind doing so with someone in Jacen's relatively frail physical state. Of course, the war interrupted his plans in this regard.

His promotion to Commander (which occurred when he was 33) was a bit of a mystery to many in Team Pravus headquarters, for it was supposedly arranged by Mion herself after Jacen did her a great favor of some sort. For months people gossiped about a possible relationship between them, but the rumors died down quickly enough. For several months thereafter, Jacen's life was relatively quiet apart from a few pokemon battles here and there or the odd drama within headquarters. Then the war came. There had already been fighting, but never like this. Jacen was out with his pokemon on a daily basis, fighting clones and the odd trainer who had sided with Mewtwo. He had always enjoyed pokemon battles, but these fights were cruel, intended to be to the death. Jacen also had to worry about his own safety during these fights as well, for the clones would often try to attack him rather than deal with his powerful pokemon. He was protected well by his loyal pokemon, although none of them escaped the conflicts totally unscathed.

After months of this vicious fighting, Jacen became depressed. It had become pointless, but Jacen continued fighting for Pravus anyway. So he sent his pokemon out again and again, their battles tearing up fields and forests and leveling cities. He watched as the region he had grown up in was turned into a charnel pit of the dead and dying, pokemon and humans sharing the mass grave. His depression increased, as did his irritability, but he did not stop fighting. Not until, during one particularly difficult battle against a large number of clones, Hermes (the pigeot who had been with him for over ten years) fell, killed by a fearow. That loss was too much. Jacen left the fighting, Team Pravus, and all of Remoor region behind. He left no notice of his departure (which caused more than a little havoc in the ranks as a Commander randomly disappeared). Naturally, he was presumed dead, although the headquarters made a great do-to about his death in order to raise morale.

For a while, Jacen lived in the Kanto region, specifically in Viridian City. He had little interest in socializing, but as often happens, there were people who were not content to let him brood. In this case, that person was a well-known scientist called Professor Oak, who lived in nearby Pallet Town. At first, the professor was mostly interested in Jacen because he was a pokemorph, but the two grew to know each other fairly well over the next three years. Eventually, the topic of why Jacen had left came up, and he told Oak - although he left out several details in the telling - the events that had led up to his departure. After that, it was a matter of convincing Jacen to go back and see if he couldn't try to fix the situation. While Oak did not know all the details, he nonetheless managed to convince Jacen to return, if only to see whether there was anything he could do to help the region recover.

Jacen did, indeed, return. He spent a couple of weeks surveying all the damage done to the region, and has just begun to make his way back to Pravus Headquarters - which thankfully has not moved, otherwise he would have quite a time finding it. He had begun to wonder about his purpose in Team Pravus, however. He has always been fully aware of their activities, including brainwashing many of the grunts... But it never occurred to him that those techniques might have been used on him as well, although more subtly. Now, while he is still loyal to Pravus, he is beginning to have doubts about whether he really wants to stay - but he also knows what happens to those who leave.

How his return will be met is also a matter of some concern to him. His old position might be returned, or he might even be reduced in rank, even all the way back to a basic grunt. Then again, there is always the possibility that he might be labeled a traitor and need to escape from the headquarters quickly, which would make it quite unnecessary for him to decide whether or not to stay. Regardless of the consequences, his intention now is to return to the headquarters and see what awaits him there.

Characters Pokemon:


Name: Crag
Sex: Male
Species: Golem
Age: 25
Level: 82
Personality: Crag is fairly quiet, but is undoubtedly powerful. He doesn’t mind avoiding battle, and in fact very much enjoys simply being with his trainer. He has been with Jacen since he was only ten years old, and the two are completely inseparable. He enjoys listening to music, much like Jacen does, and absolutely loves going out in the snow and rolling down hills. He has become much more serious now after the war, especially after the loss of Hermes, who was an old friend of his. But, as he was when Jacen's sister was killed, Crag has always been there to comfort Jacen if necessary and to support him (both literally and figuratively speaking).

Attacks:

• Double-Edge (recoil damage negated)
  
• Rollout (lasts 5 turns, gaining intensity)
  
• Magnitude (random strength)
  
• Stone Edge (high critical hit ratio)
  
• Giga Impact (user cannot attack next turn)
  
• Fire Blast (may cause a burn)
  
• Focus Punch (damage depends on loyalty)
  

- - -


Name: Thor
Sex: Male
Species: Typhlosion (shiny)
Age: 17
Level: 84
Personality: Thor has an extremely fiery personality. He is hot-tempered and passionate, having very little patience for the most part. He listens to Jacen, of course, but with any other trainer would be nearly impossible to manage. He loves to fight, and cannot stand not being physically active for more than an hour or so. During the war he became extremely protective of Jacen, and this did not lessen afterwards. Thor almost always insists on being out of his pokeball and by Jacen's side now, and does not like it when anyone approaches his trainer.

Attacks:

• Eruption (causes more damage depending on user’s health)
  
• Swift (never misses)
  
• Flamethrower (may inflict a burn)
  
• Sunny Day (boosts fire-type moves)
  
• Shadow Claw (high critical hit ratio)
  
• Focus Blast (may lower foe’s SP Defence)
  
• Solarbeam (absorbs light one turn, then releases it next turn)
  
• Protect (evades one attack, but may fail if used repeatedly)

- - -


Name: Gabriel
Sex: Male
Species: Magneton
Age: 14
Level: 71
Personality: Gabriel is a bit odd. He acts almost robotic at times, and seeks out things such as electrical outlets and battles involving electric-type pokemon. He loves thunderstorms, and will cause them as often as possible when he can find another magneton or two. He enjoys setting off electric attacks, and if not being given direct orders by Jacen will use those almost exclusively. Gabriel does not seem to have been changed much by the war... Not until he gets into battle, anyway. He seems to have been programmed to kill, and will not stop attacking until his opponent is dead or he is forcibly returned to his pokeball.

Attacks:

• Thunder Wave (paralyzes the enemy)
  
• Lock-On (ensures that next move hits)
  
• Magnet Bomb (cannot miss)
  
• Discharge (may cause paralysis)
  
• Zap Cannon (powerful and always causes paralysis, but inaccurate)
  
• Thunder (may cause paralysis)
  
• Charge Beam (good chance of raising user’s special attack)
  
• Flash (reduces enemy’s accuracy)

- - -


Name: Goliath
Sex: Male
Species: Walrein
Age: 13
Level: 75
Personality: Goliath is by far the most playful of Jacen’s pokemon. He doesn’t seem to know his own strength at times when around humans, especially when he’s swimming with them. He loves kids as well, and will talk to them much more readily than most other people. Surprisingly, the war did not seem to change him much. While Goliath had to kill just as often as any other during the war, he seemed to brush it off more easily, and has maintained his friendly nature.

Attacks:

• Hail (summons a storm that strikes every turn)
  
• Blizzard (hits the enemy with an ice-storm that may cause freezing)
  
• Surf (creates a huge wave to crash down on an opponent)
  
• Body Slam (full-body attack that may paralyze enemy)
  
• Crunch (may lower defence)
  
• Hyper Beam (user must recharge after use)
  
• Brine (power doubles if enemy’s health is less than half)
  
• Earthquake (cannot hit flying enemies)

- - -


Name: Kairee
Sex: Female
Species: Xatu
Age: 16
Level: 71
Personality: Kairee is scathingly sarcastic, having a comeback for just about anything and everything. However, she is quite social despite this, and knows when to hold her tongue so as to avoid having everyone else leave her company. Kairee adores mind games and magic tricks, and takes great pleasure in trying to figure out a puzzle that she finds or how Jacen does some of his card tricks and the like. Out of Jacen's pokemon, Kairee is most likely to help him with things like getting out of chairs and whatnot; he doesn't really mind her help. During and after the war, Kairee became contemplative, less talkative than she used to be. Her sarcasm has become more scathing and less joking as well, although her mannerisms have otherwise changed little.

Attacks:

• Me First (strikes first using foe’s attack at extra power)
  
• Ominous Wind (may raise all stats)
  
• Confuse Ray (confuses the foe)
  
• Psychic (may lower special defence)
  
• Giga Drain (steals half damage inflicted)
  
• Light Screen (lowers special attack damage)
  
• Future Sight (strike’s two turns later with extra power)
  
• Miracle Eye (removes dark-type’s psychic immunity/resets evasiveness)

- - -


Name: Artemis
Sex: Female
Species: Garchomp
Age: 14
Level: 69
Personality: Artemis always seems like she has better things to do than spend time with others, and tends to wander off when not in her pokeball. She’ll always check back, but she might wander off for hours if allowed to. She has a bit of a temper, and a thirst for revenge. She will hold a grudge for ages if she is ever defeated in battle, and demands a rematch as soon as possible. This has changed little since the war, although she is definitely more alert now that she has had to fight for her life more than once.

Attacks:

• Dragon Rush (may cause enemy to flinch)
  
• Dragon Claw
  
• Slash (high critical hit ratio)
  
• Take Down (powerful, but user takes recoil damage)
  
• Dig (digs on first turn and strikes on second)
  
• Flamethrower (may burn enemy)
  
• Rock Smash (may lower defence)
  
• Iron Tail (may lower defence)

- - -


Name: Oliver
Sex: Male
Species: Phanpy
Age: 25
Level: 8
Personality: Oliver is extremely friendly and playful, and is one of the few pokemon or people that Jacen doesn’t insist on constant training. Oliver doesn’t like battling, and is never required to. He likes exploring, and occasionally can be seen trotting along by Jacen’s side when he is traveling. The phanpy is very energetic, but a bit clumsy, and tends to trip over his own feet a lot. During the war Oliver became more withdrawn, but he seemed to get over this fairly quickly since he wasn't actually involved in any of the fighting.

Attacks:

• Odor Sleuth (ignores opponent’s heightened evasiveness)
  
• Tackle
  
• Growl (reduces enemy’s attack)
  
• Defence Curl (raises defence)
  
• Flail (deals more damage when health is low)
  

- - -


Name: Marina
Sex: Female
Species: Houndoom
Age: 4
Level: 26
Personality: The offspring of two of Jacen's previous pokemon (both houndours), Marina has definitely inherited their personality traits. She is protective, hot-headed, adventurous, and daring, with a love of battle. She was lent out to various trainers during the war, and thus does not really know Jacen very well, but she is fairly loyal to him nonetheless, knowing that he is a capable trainer.

Attacks:

• Bite (may cause flinching)
  
• Roar (makes enemy retreat)
  
• Howl (greatly raises attack)
  
• Smog (may poison enemy)
  
• Ember (may cause a burn)
  
• Thunder Fang (may paralyze and make enemy flinch)
  
• Leer (lowers enemy defence)
  
• Odor Sleuth (negates enemy evasiveness)

- - -


Name: Mortimer
Sex: Male
Species: Wailmer
Age: 9
Level: 33
Personality: Mortimer isn’t the sharpest tack in the box. He can’t really put together complex ideas, and he isn’t on the same intellectual level as Jacen’s other pokemon for the most part. Still, he lives to please, and will perform tricks just to get a bit of attention. He doesn’t particularly enjoy battling, but will if it is what his trainer wants him to do, and he isn’t half bad at it either. He did not perform well against the clones in the war at first, but once the grunts he was lent to learned to use him to start an attack and kill an enemy with a different pokemon, he became used quite often. He knows what he helped to do, and is sorry for destroying so much life. If given the opportunity, Mortimer would try to fix everything... If he knew how.

Attacks:

• Brine (power doubles when enemy hp is low)
  
• Rollout (deals increasing damage over 5 turns)
  
• Whirlpool (traps and hurts enemy for 2-5 turns)
  
• Water Pulse (may cause confusion)
  
• Rest (sleeps for 2 turns to restore health)
  
• Astonish (may shock enemy into flinching)
  
• Mist (stops ability reduction)
  
• Waterfall

- - -


Name: Ariadne
Sex: Female
Species: Ariados
Age: 16
Level: 29
Personality: Ariadne enjoys scaring people. A lot. She used to drop down from holes in the ceiling to scare members of Team Pravus when she was a spinarak not so very long ago, but now she prefers to drop down from the ceiling behind them and scurry past them, brushing up against their legs as she goes by. It’s enough to make many people scream, or at least startle them quite a lot. Other than this pastime, she enjoys setting traps for other pokemon. She never kills (for the food that she gets from Jacen is much better than any raw kill), but she still finds endless amusement in approaching struggling pokemon and toying with them for a while before setting them free. In battle, she likes to stay out of sight as much as possible, spinning webs to catch the pokemon she is fighting and attacking from ambush. Ariadne's personality seems to have changed little after the war. She is a hunter and a killer by nature, and being sent out to do those things for a cause rather than for food meant little to her.

Attacks:

• Shadow Sneak (always attacks first)
  
• Night Shade (deals damage according to user’s level)
  
• Leech Life (steals half damage inflicted as health)
  
• Scary Face (greatly reduces enemy’s speed)
  
• Toxic (Poisons enemy; gets worse as time passes)
  
• Fury Swipes (strikes 2-5 times)
  
• Poison Sting (may poison)
  
• Sucker Punch (strikes first, but depends on enemy using an attack)

- - -


Name: Kazi
Sex: Female
Species: Cloyster
Age: 11
Level: 37
Personality: Kazi loves a good joke. She has a great sense of humor, and has countless numbers of jokes stored in her memory. She likes pulling pranks, but not of the same kind that Ariadne does. She has been known to freeze doors shut behind people, hide in restrooms and freeze the tap water until it builds up and shoots out, drenching whomever was unlucky enough to be in front of the sink, and create patches of water or ice on the floor so that people fall. Kazi has a high-pitched, cackling laugh that one can hear from very far away. She likes battling, but doesn’t like to take a hit. If she is hit, she gets very angry and will strike back, sometimes without listening to her trainer. During the war she was used as the "tank" of the team, and has gained a bit of a tendency to order other pokemon around. Otherwise, she is much the same, if a bit more vindictive.

Attacks:

• Supersonic (may confuse enemy)
  
• Aurora Beam (may lower attack)
  
• Ice Shard (always hits first)
  
• Clamp (traps and hurts enemy for 2-5 turns)
  
• Protect (ignores one attack, but may fail if used repeatedly)
  
• Ice Beam (may freeze enemy)
  
• Payback (deals double damage if user is hit first)
  
• Avalanche (damage doubles if user is hit first)

- - -


Name: Hatshepsut
Sex: Female
Species: Persian
Age: 17
Level: 38
Personality: A very regal pokemon, Hatshepsut has a very large ego and maintains a constant air of dignity. She believes battle to be below her for the most part, but will fight if Jacen asks her to. He is the only person she will take orders from, and anyone else will feel her claws or teeth if they demand something out of her. She adores riddles, but prefers telling them to figuring them out herself with others around. She prefers to tease others as they try to figure out her riddles rather than open herself up to it. During the war, Hatshepsut (like many of Jacen's lower-level pokemon) was lent out to lower ranking Team members. She obeyed none of them, however, and soon she was simply sent out on her own, her pokeball tied around her neck to serve as a resting spot if necessary. She killed for Pravus only because it was what Jacen would have had her do anyway, but she grew bored toward the end of the fighting and simply remained in the wild for several months rather than rejoining the fighting. For all her high-and-mighty talk, she is a good fighter, and bears a minimum of scars from the war, both physical and mental.

Attacks:

• Bite (may cause flinching)
  
• Fake Out (first turn, first-strike move that always causes flinching)
  
• Fury Swipes (strikes 2-5 times)
  
• Screech (greatly lowers enemy’s defence)
  
• Faint Attack (always hits)
  
• Power Gem
  
• Growl (lowers enemy’s defence)
  
• Slash (high critial hit ratio)

- - -


Name: Pyro
Sex: Male
Species: Growlithe
Age: 9
Level: 30
Personality: Pyro loves battle. He is extremely brave, and will rush into combat simply for the sake of battle. He isn’t stupid, but he does prefer attacking over any of the other moves he might be required to learn. During the war, he simply tried to take orders and not think about what it was he was doing, and now that it is over he wants to go back to friendly competition with a minimum of bloodshed - even if it means leaving Jacen.

Attacks:

• Bite (may cause flinching)
  
• Roar (causes enemy to flee)
  
• Ember (may cause a burn)
  
• Leer (lowers enemy’s defence)
  
• Odor Sleuth (negates enemy’s evasiveness)
  
• Fire Fang (may burn and cause enemy to flinch)
  
• Flame Wheel (may cause a burn)
  
• Reversal (deals more damage when user has low health)

- - -


Name: Talla
Sex: Female
Species: Flaaffy
Age: 13
Level: 26
Personality: Talla has a very innocent and naïve personality, for the most part. She may act a bit childish at times, being very fond of soft blankets ad teddy bears, not to mention lullabyes and human child’s toys. She has a tendency to get into everything as well, climbing on everything and getting into odd places like suitcases and amid stacks of towels. Surprisingly, she doesn’t mind battling, and is in fact fairly good at it. However, she never carries a grudge on another pokemon. During the war she was used sparingly at first, but more and more often as the situation became desperate. She has grown more mature over this time, but her old habits remain the same. She now carries a stuffed rabbit with her at all times for comfort, and tends to have terrible nightmares if she is without it.

Attacks:

• Tackle
  
• Growl (reduces enemy’s attack)
  
• Thundershock (may paralyze enemy)
  
• Thunder Wave (paralyzes enemy)
  
• Cotton Spore (greatly reduces enemy’s speed)
  
• Charge (powers up the next electric attack used)

- - -


Name: Diablo
Sex: Male
Species: Tauros
Age: 7
Level: 25
Personality: Diablo has an excess of both anger and energy. He will attack anything and everything on sight if not commanded differently, and even then he is hesitant to obey. During the war he was used quite often, and never did get rid of his anger. He loved the combat, and wishes that the war was still going on so that he could continue to fight daily. Due to his recent frustration at the lack of action, he has become almost impossible to control.

Attacks:

• Tackle
  
• Tail Whip (reduces enemy’s defence)
  
• Rage (raises attack every time it hits)
  
• Horn Attack
  
• Scary Face (greatly reduces enemy’s speed)
  
• Pursuit (deals greater damage on an enemy switching out)
  
• Rest (user sleeps 2 turns to restore health)
  
• Payback (power doubles if user is hit first)

- - -


Name: Rampage
Sex: Male
Species: Sandslash
Age: 11
Level: 31
Personality: Rampage likes sharpening his claws on anything and everything he can get in range of. He is highly disciplined, however, and is not about to go about shredding all the furniture in any given area. He will battle if he is asked to, but generally he prefers other tests of ability, such as obstacle courses. He was used extensively during the war, especially toward the end, and has the broken scales (and one broken claw) to show for it. Now he acts more like an old war vet, having no wish to kill any longer and the mentality of one who has seen too much killing.

Attacks:

• Crush Claw (may lower defence)
  
• Rollout (lasts 5 turns, gaining attack each time)
  
• Fury Cutter (gains power with each hit)
  
• Swift (never misses)
  
• Sand-Attack (reduces enemy’s accuracy)
  
• Rapid Spin
  
• Poison Sting (may poison enemy)
  
• Defence Curl (raises defence)

- - -


Name: Turtwig
Sex: Male
Species: Turtwig
Age: 5
Level: 15
Personality: Turtwig was just an infant at the start of the war, and grew up fighting to kill. He has developed a soldier's ability to take orders, and has become a vicious combatant, killing when ordered without scarcely a thought to right or wrong. Since the war ended, he has not known what to do with himself. He does not know anything other than killing, and whether he can learn anything else remains to be seen.

Attacks:

• Withdraw (raises defence)
  
• Tackle
  
• Absorb (gives half damage as health to the user)
  
• Razor Leaf (high critical hit ratio)

- - - New Pokemon - - -


Name: Sally (prefers to be called Sal)
Sex: Female
Species: Lapras
Age: 15
Level: 18
Personality: Sal was a mid-war capture for Jacen. She was caught in the middle of a conflict, and after dispatching his opponent he captured her, originally with the intention of letting her go again somewhere safe. As the war escalated out of control and she grew attached to him, he decided to keep her. She was never used in the war, and thus has essentially the same outlook she had before. She is playful and adores the water, having a great love of swimming races. She will fight if it is asked of her, and has no particular love or hate of combat.

Attacks:

• Sing (puts enemy to sleep)
  
• Growl (lowers enemy defence)
  
• Water Gun
  
• Mist (prevents stat reduction)
  
• Confuse Ray (confuses enemy)
  
• Ice Shard (always hits first)
  
• Water Pulse (may confuse enemy)
  
• Body Slam (may cause paralysis)

- - -


Name: Prometheus
Sex: Male
Species: Charmander
Age: 2
Level: 7
Personality: Prometheus (Teo, for short) is a rather temperamental pokemon. He likes fighting, but does not like to listen to his trainer. Unlike 99.9% of pokemon, who will listen to a trainer who proves to be competent, Teo refuses to listen simply because he likes being stubborn. He enjoys destroying things just because he can, and must be put in his pokeball or under close supervision at all times lest he burn down buildings just because he gets the chance to do so. Professor Oak gave the little troublemaker to Jacen two years ago, knowing he would be too much of a handful for a beginning trainer to deal with - that and Oak just didn't want him around the lab any more.

Attacks:

• Scratch
  
• Growl (lowers enemy defence)
  
• Ember (may cause a burn)

- - -


Name: Pidgey
Sex: Female
Species: Pidgey
Age: Three months
Level: 3
Personality: Pidgey is young yet, and much of her personality has yet to develop, but so far she seems eager to please, and confused that Jacen seems to dislike her. This has made her redouble her efforts to please him. She tries to help him out as often as possible by bringing him things she thinks he might need or want, but he keeps her in her pokeball most of the time anyway. Professor Oak gave her to Jacen the day that he left the Kanto region, knowing that Jacen lost his Pigeot in the war. Jacen has been more than a little hesitant about the little bird, still very attached to the memory of his beloved Hermes, and tries to keep the persistent pidgey at arms length.

Attacks:

• Tackle

Role Playing
Sample:
Jacen was greatly intrigued to find that his opponent in the contests was none other than the notorious Mion herself. Really, to be completely and utterly honest... He was a little intimidated. Not in the sense that he feared for his safety, of course. No, not that. Mion could have a disastrous temper at times, but never had she flared up at him - and they were fairly good friends in any case, as far as Jacen was concerned. No, intimidated was simply the most appropriate word to use for the slight nervousness he was feeling at the prospect of getting a chance to defeat the president of Team Pravus itself. It would be a meaningless victory to the audience at large of course, but for a few who had come from Headquarters to see the match, it would mean everything. Jacen smirked at the thought of those who put so much stock into these sorts of things.

He stood behind the double-doors leading out into the open stadium, standing with both hands on his silver-headed cane and rubbing the beak of the legendary bird absently as he waited for the doors to open. He had a plan, of course, but who knew what he might come up with on the fly once he got out there? Jacen squinted as the doors suddenly hissed open, throwing the bright light of the stadium beyond into his eyes. His smile remained though, and as soon as the doors were completely open he stepped out into the stadium proper, looking across at the Team Pravus president, who was stepping out at the opposite side at the same time. He nodded to her, but the crowd was far too loud for him to say anything, so he simply settled for that.

He stood and observed Mion's attack combination, nodding a little in approval as the attack finished. The resulting miniature landscape looked quite beautiful, and Jacen quickly turned his strategy around as an idea came to him. "You'll forgive me if I don't wait for the smoke to clear, so to speak." he said with a smile as he reached to his belt, where he pulled out two pokeballs. The first he tossed out immediately, and Hermes flew out, rising up high into the sky and drawing the audience's attention upward. Jacen tossed out a second pokeball then, which revealed Crag. "Crag, magnitude, if you please. From the center outward." he said, putting a hand on the golem's back as he spoke. Crag used one clawed hand to hold his shoulder and keep him steady as he let out a tremendous roar, pounding the ground with a foot and causing an enormous earthquake. The attack had been a bit of a gamble, since Jacen couldn't know its exact power, but it had worked fabulously. He lost his balance in the quake, but Crag's stony hand held him upright while many of the audience members fell out of their seats. The ground opened up in the center of the arena, creating a gorge in the middle of the icy mountains that Mion's combination had made. As it formed, Hermes turned into a steep dive, entering the crevice just as it opened wide enough to admit him. He spiraled downwards as he flew, wings spread wide to create quite a spectacle.

Now, Jacen threw out his last pokeball. Thor landed upright, the flames on the typhlosion's back roaring. "Thor, flamethrower." Thor nodded, rushing up and leaping off of Crag's back, about twenty feet into the air. At the height of the leap, he opened his mouth wide and threw forth a great swath of flame, hot enough that the first few rows of the audience could feel the heat wave. The fire went directly into the crevice, and a collective gasp erupted from the audience as they remembered that the pigeot was still in there. An instant later, Hermes flew forth from the crevice, throwing up the flames and trailing flames of his own from his feathers. Yes, he had taken the full brunt of the attack, but that had been the point, and it had created a spectacular display as he flew up into the sky, executing an air slash attack and creating a bright line of trailing flame in the sky. "Phoenix Rising." Jacen said simply, perfectly summarizing the combination. Thor and Crag returned to his side, while Hermes continued to claim the crowd's attention for a few more seconds before Jacen returned him to his pokeball, closely followed by the other two. "Your turn." was Jacen's only statement to Mion.