Private/Closed Out From The Deep (Discussion)

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Between mining operations past and present, the intricate labyrinth of caverns running through the great Coronet mountain range, the underground paths maintained by the region's enthusiastic spelunking and treasure hunting community, and other things, far older and stranger, few regions have so much lurking beneath their surface than the Sinnoh Region - some explored thoroughly, some untouched for centuries, and some never seen before by human eyes.

Some of these paths never meet. Others regularly intersect through the actions of humans or Pokémon. But all of them criss-cross throughout the region, and - like the veins and arteries of some great beast - have lines of elemental energy flow through them, diverting and intertwining throughout the land. Science only began to scratch the surface of Sinnoh's energetic webs, and that's on days when they act the way they are meant to.

Unbeknownst to the people of Sinnoh - residents and visitors alike - somewhere, deep beneath the earth, something has awakened . Ripples of its awakening are slowly making their way to the surface - and A group of veteran trainers - each brought to the region by something else - are about to get caught in their wake and swept up in an adventure that would take them deeper into Sinnoh than they have, most likely, ever expected.

Hold on tight, folks. We're about to hit rock bottom - and we need to go deeper.

~*~
​

Out from the Deep is an adventure taking place in the Sinnoh region - both above and below ground - with seemingly unrelated events on the surface - energetic disruptions, weird organic mineral growths resembling elaborate Underground Spheres erupting into existence and crumbling in the sunlight, emergences of wild and powerful Pokémon affected by elemental energy wells and surges in unpredictable ways, mechanisms in ancient ruins coming to life and old doors opening that have not been opened for ages, the works - eventually drawing veteran trainers caught in such events to team up and attempt to get to the bottom of these events and the actual causes behind them.

Hunting down pieces of the puzzle above ground - ancient lore alongside new wild events - are essential to narrowing down the search for the cause and a possible solution - and between such events, everything else is basically gravy. Challenging gyms if we're in the area and so desired can happen, but isn't vastly necessary to the plot - this isn't a league journey unless you feel like making your character this way inclined. But there is a little something for everyone in Sinnoh, and exploring that is all part of the fun. (Because let's be honest, sometimes, a bit of faffing around and filler is necessary while we figure out what's actually going on!)

Why veteran trainers? Because I'm honestly up to my armblades in relatively-new-journey-RPs (most of which are frozen to some extent) and damnit, I want to see - and write - some S-tier battles against both trainers and wild 'boss fight' Pokémon - including some unusual variants due to energetic bleed. If this RP can actually survive more than five seconds before we are consumed by our actual lives, deities willing, this is a chance for us to stretch our writing-limbs and go wild.

What could possibly go wrong? Well, everything, but that's a topic for another day.

The usual bio template and RP forum rules apply - but as I'm only opening this to the usual suspects, I don't need to point any of this out. Feel free to bring in your fan-made 'mons and regional shenanigans if you want - I know I'm definitely going to be. Also keep in mind that I'm bringing in Thirdspace Gad which also means that I'll be running Gardenia as a player character to the extent that she may appear in the plot. The rest of the Gym Leaders etc., should any of us feel like dealing with them (I have a few battles planned, tbh), are free to be NPC'd and auto'd around.

I'll post some actual bios once I get confirmation that I'm not just screaming into the void here. ^^

 

[Rex]

Name: Ryan Harrison
Gender: Male
Age: 21
Appearance: A blond haired young man with a single blue eye - the left one. Ryan stands at 6'0" and has a toned body kept fit from years of traveling. He wears a black eyepatch over his right eye, a rather thick one that mostly hides the three parallel scars that stretch from just above his eyebrow down to his cheek on the right side of his face. He typically wears a black muscle shirt and pants, with gray sneakers and a blue jacket, his things carried in your typical knapsack.
Personality: Ryan is a breezy, relaxed, happy-go-lucky sort, very easy to get along with. He takes few things seriously, training Pokemon being one of the few exceptions. His kind nature allows him to get along with just about anybody, and he enjoys playing foil to more serious people. However, he can be judgmental when things don't live up to his standards, especially when those things are trainers, or even Gym Leaders, and the things related to them. He can be exacting, and tends to expect great things from just about anyone.
History: Ryan has wanted to be a trainer from a very young age - what kid hasn't? He was born in Castelia City, and would often sneak out of home to watch gym battles and show matches featuring his hometown's very own Gym Leader, Burgh. When he was about twelve, he ventured out to Unova's Route 4 for the first time, where he came across a Sandile. The Pokemon had been spooked by something - perhaps the nearby construction of a road through the route - and Ryan was too young to understand the Pokemon's body language. It lashed out at him claiming the boy's right eye.

It wasn't until he turned sixteen that Ryan's parents finally felt comfortable allowing their son to go off on his own Pokemon journey. Like many young Trainers, Ryan went to Nuvema Town to receive a Starter Pokemon from the local professor - Juniper. This Starter was Dodger, an Oshawott at the time. Together, they traveled the region. By all accounts, Ryan was and is an exceptionally talented trainer, by the time he was eighteen he'd made it to the Elite Four, even going so far as to defeat three of them, only to find himself stonewalled by the fourth, the Fighting Type master Marshal. Since then, Ryan has traveled, first around Unova again, and then off to the distant Kanto region, where he searched specifically for Pokemon not located in the local Pokedex practically in the backyard of the man who invented it - Professor Oak.

Now, Ryan comes to Sinnoh, ostensibly to do much the same, find Pokemon that, according to the Pokedex, shouldn't be there. In truth though, Ryan's end goal has always been the same, to become an even greater Trainer to one day return to Unova and finish what he started now three years ago, defeat the Elite Four and Alder, and become the new Champion of Unova.
Pokemon:
Dodger - Dewott, Male, Torrent. Ryan's Starter Pokemon, acquired in Nuvema Town from the region's professor, Juniper, as is typical for Starter Pokemon. Dodger was the only Pokemon from Ryan's original Unova team that traveled with him to Kanto, though Sinnoh features mostly old hands from the now two Regions Ryan has traveled through. Dodger is Ryan's partner and effectively the Trainer's seeing-eye Pokemon, keeping Ryan aware of things to the trainer''s right. (The Artful Dodger, Oliver Twist)
Roger - Scrafty, Male, Moxie. Like most Scrafty, Roger started life as a Scraggy on Route 4. Ryan captured him on his way through the desert, and for much of the rest of Ryan's original Unova run, Roger was his go-to 'indiscriminately beat the crud out of the enemy' Pokemon and a key component of his Unova league team. As one can imagine when it comes to Dark Type Pokemon, Roger's streak of wins was effectively ended the moment Marshal looked at him funny. Feeling like he over relied on the Scrafty, Ryan didn't bring him to Kanto as a way to force himself to branch out. Rest assured, Ryan still has big plans for the Scrafty for his triumphant return to Unova, and thus he has been brought along to Sinnoh so Ryan can work out the kinks in their strategy. (Roger "Rogue" Riderhood, Our Mutual Friend)
Lucie - Haxorus, Female, Mold Breaker. Originally an Axew Ryan captured in Mistralton Cave, Lucie was an absolute powerhouse of a Pokemon once Ryan took the time to properly train her. Despite this, she's still largely inexperienced - Ryan captured her after his failed Elite Four attempt and left her behind when he went to Kanto. Once trained, she will be a force to be reckoned with, and Ryan hopes to use her to shore up some of his weakpoints during his second attempt at the Unova League someday, which is why she has been brought with him to Sinnoh. (Lucie Manette, A Tale of Two Cities)
Tommy - Breloom, Male, Effect Spore. Captured as a Shroomish in Kanto's Viridian Forest, Tommy became quite the brawler in his own right upon evolving, proving to be a key member of the Kanto team despite some early hiccups. Seeing greater potential in the Pokemon than just a couple Gym battles, Ryan has brought the Breloom to Sinnoh in order to further his training so he might be able to aid in taking down the Unova Elite Four. (Tommy Traddles, David Copperfield)
Noah - Mienfoo, Male, Regenerator. A gift from a friend in Unova, recently hatched from an egg. Inherited the move Vital Throw from his father, which Ryan found quite surprising when the Mienfoo demonstrated the move for the first time. Also surprise, but more painfully so, was Roger, who was sparring with the Pokemon at the time. Both young and inexperienced, Noah doesn't yet know his own strength, and can be something of a klutz. (Noah Claypole, Oliver Twist)

And to be caught near the beginning of this RP:

Samuel - Zigzagoon, Male, Pickup. What better way to start off a Sinnoh journey than by catching a Hoenn native Pokemon? Ryan will be capturing this little guy on Route 202, ostensibly to continue his non-native Pokemon collection. Samuel tries his very best to be helpful, which often results in the Zigzagoon getting into trouble when his ability causes him to wander off or pinch something that doesn't belong to him. (Samuel Pickwick, The Pickwick Papers)

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Name: Gad (I admit, I've yet to figure out a last name for this one. This is not, however, Gad Van Lierre)

Age: 23

Gender: Male

Appearance: He stands at about 1.75 m tall, with the athletic build of a well-traveled individual. His eyes are a warm shade of brown (with a vague goldish-amberish refraction pattern visible just under the surface from certain angles) and his hair is long, dark brown to the point of being black, and rather wavy. He wears glasses with a black rectangular frame and overlapping, hexagonal scale patterns running along the sides of their handles, and is commonly seen in some combination of dark blue jeans, a graphic tee (usually in green), a black bandanna with double helix and Pokéball designs in white, and a long black coat with a complicated plantlike pattern in green running along one of its sides - which also serves a practical purpose as a lab coat (though naturally, he has several alternate outfits for different field conditions). He also wears a necklace with a pendant composed of a malachite crystal wrapped in leafy silver vines, an amethyst droplet set in their center.
He carries a Miato-issue Pokégear, a GPDS Pokédex and a digital storage device in which he carries most of his equipment - including camping and survival equipment, scientific apparatus, as well as his acoustic guitar, sketchbooks and pencils.

Personality: He is a highly intelligent, scientific individual with a great memory for assorted factoids he finds interesting and tends to absorb information when he can (he jokingly refers to himself as a 'trash can for information') - and a bit of a tendency to over-analyze things and get lost in detail, sometimes overlooking the greater picture. On the other hand, he is a creative, artistic sort with a tendency to daydream and become lost in his own mind. His love for nature is apparent in both these sides.

He has quite a developed sense of humor - mostly driven by puns, semi-obscure references and sarcasm. He often says that without his sense of humor he would have been dead long ago - and lapsing into humor tends to be a coping mechanism to him.

He's not very easy to get to know, but once he befriends someone, he will be loyal to them until they break his trust. To his friends, he's a good listener, sensitive and supportive. To other people, he is reasonably friendly, though he has a rather low tolerance for stupidity - it tends to send him into sarcasm-mode. He has a tendency to stress out or feel slightly out of place in very large groups, or when surrounded by people he does not really know. As such, he tends to dislike large cities.

Gad has much respect to all Pokémon as fellow sentient beings and builds his relationship with his Pokémon on the basis of mutual trust, respect and teamwork. As far as battling goes, he emphasizes diversity and utilization of the environment and attacks already in play to turn the tide of battle in his favor - perhaps his favorite thing to do is to use his opponent's attacks against them.

Skills: Drawing, writing, playing guitar and singing. He also has a major knack for puns. As far as more practical skills are involved, he is a pretty good cook, and his travels have led him to develop a whole assortment of survival skills - augmented by deep knowledge of herb lore acquired from his particular fascination with biology and plants. He also has a deep affinity with Grass-type Pokémon - and always seemed to understand them better than other types.

History: Born and raised in Malachite City, in the region of Miato, Gad had a pretty normal childhood for the first few years of his life. As a child, he travelled a lot with his parents, with their friends joining them at times. One couple of friends his parents had a daughter about his age, Ivy, and the two (who shared an affinity for nature and Grass-types in particular) spent a lot of their childhood together, developing a close friendship to the point of a brother/sister bond, often playing in the areas of Quartz Forest close to Malachite City and spending much time in the Malachite City Gym, which was at the time owned by and run by Ivy's mother.

Both being great dreamers, Ivy and Gad both had great plans to go on a journey together - and indeed, when they both hit the age of 15, the two set off on a journey across the Miato region, collecting gym badges as keepsakes from their journey, neither particularly inclined to challenge the league itself. Their mutual passion for Grass-types led them to capture or at the very least befriend quite a variety of Miato's Grass-type species between the two of them - and as they often trained together and sometimes temporarily "swapped" Pokémon during training sessions to provide their companions with new perspectives, some of the Pokémon they have captured during that journey share a double loyalty to both of them. However, while Ivy chose to specialize in the Grass-type with the dream of someday replacing her mother as Malachite City's Gym Leader, Gad did not restrict himself to a single type - and formed alliances with a diverse array of creatures.

Once they have completed their journey, the two ended up undertaking another one shortly after to explore the Outlying Islands surrounding the region to learn about their ecosystems and their unique, endemic variants of other, existing species. On one particular rainforest island, the two trainers formed a bond with two wild Wisprites that were curious about the new arrivals - and eventually capturing the Deep Forest Pokémon which became valuable additions to their teams. After spending some time in the islands, the two decided to return home, where for the first time in many years they parted ways - Ivy decided to remain in Malachite City and dedicate herself even further to mastery of the Grass-type and several years later, following her mother's retirement, she became the new Gym Leader of Malachite city - a position that she still proudly holds today. Gad, on the other hand, decided to follow his passion for biology - and made the journey to Jade Town, where for several years later he apprenticed under the guidance and supervision of Professor Erin Redwood - and through his years of working with her - first under her supervision and then as a colleague - he developed a fairly close friendship with the scientist.

It was through one particular project they collaborated on - research involving comparative studies of particular types of moss that appeared to grow exclusively in places where strong overlap existed between the prime material plane and the elemental plane of grass, and the strong feedback loops that seemed to be in place where such mosses were well-established - that he found himself traveling to Eterna Forest in the Sinnoh region, where he met a local trainer who was also interested in the properties of the local 'moss rock'. This trainer, whose overwhelming passion for Grass-types made even his own pale in comparison, turned out to be the gym leader of the neighboring Eterna City, Gardenia. The two clicked almost instantly, and in the time Gad spent studying the Sinnoh Moss Rock more in-depth, this click grew into friendship that blossomed into love, and the two settled into a relationship.

He currently continues residing in Sinnoh, continuing his research on grass-plane bio-etherics through a system of artificial mini-habitats designed in collaboration with Gardenia (who came up with the idea as 'homes away from home' for the Pokémon of her gym) and Professor Redwood (who provided much of the data required to calibrate them), and occasionally serves as a back-up for Gardenia or a referee for her matches.

Family: His parents, still together and very much in love after all these years. He has a great relationship with them and keeps in touch with them rather regularly.

Love Relationships: He's a bit of a hopeless romantic - which he considers as a bit of a blessing and a curse. Though there have been some unrequited crushes and a relation or two in his past that failed, he survived the heartbreak and moved on. He is currently happily involved with the Eterna City Gym Leader, Gardenia.

Pokémon on hand:

Nickname: Elysium
Species: Wisteriark
Type: Grass/Crystal
Gender: Female
Ability: Nature's Fury (The attacks of a Pokémon with this ability deal x1.5 damage to an opponent that flinched on the previous turn).
History/Personality: Normally fairly placid, Elysium shares a deep bond with nature. She is at her happiest when surrounded by trees, grass, flowers and general plant-life - and true to the nature of her species as forest guardians, she tends to regard those who would inflict harm on such with a certain degree of distaste. She is not unreasonable about it, and would recognize the difference between malice, thoughtlessness or just an accident. Won't stop her from at least issuing a golden-eyed death glare, anyway. In battle, she becomes a fierce testament to nature's fury, weaving her Grass and Crystal type abilities in tandem to deliver a swift victory against her opponents and decisively strike them down. She is fiercely loyal to her trainer and quite protective of him, and her trainer, in turn, considers her one of his closest friends.

Nickname: Tethys
Species: Cephabyss
Type: Water/Psychic
Gender: Female
Ability: Deep Thought (A Pokémon landing a hit on a Pokémon with this ability will have one of their stats reduced by two stages at random).
History/Personality: Captured as a Cuttendril, Gad often chuckles about having her since she was about the size of a Pikachu (Highly ironic, as now her head section alone is about his size). Tethys is extremely intelligent and spends much of her time in deep philosophical thoughts about things that would drive a normal human into deep, irrevocable insanity (Or, at least, that is what she claims). To put it in simple terms, she's the sort to look for a copy of 'A Brief History of Time' when she needs some light reading material. Though she dislikes to be disturbed from her meditations for mere trifles like, well, just about anything, she somehow manages to avoid being completely 'soulless' and analytical like the stereotype of Psychic-Types tends to be. As her trainer puts it - deep down she's a really sweet, inquisitive creature - but she's a giant psychic squid and deep thoughts is just what they do.

An imposing presence on the battlefield, when out of water based arenas (or when the watery segment is too small for her liking) Tethys tends to hover like a Magnapinna squid - tentacles facing down and body facing up - using a fraction of her psychic power. She has a brilliant strategic mind, though she appreciates and respects her trainer's input - even if she tends to joke that having someone else deal with the minor aspects of combat direction frees her mind to contemplate more important things, like (insert something so profound that no one in the immediate area would understand how is it relevant to the situation at hand, but she assures you that it is of the utter relevance, and if you thought outside the margins of the tiny box you call a mind, it would be obvious). Hey, she needs a hobby.

Nickname: Arano
Species: Scoruption
Type: Fire/Poison
Gender: Male
Ability: Mighty Shell (Grants immunity to sandstorm damage and halves the chances of an opponent's move's secondary effect to affect the Pokémon).
History/Personality: Caught as a Flarpion in the Jeweled Desert, Arano used to be a shy, skittish creature until pushed into fighting, at which point it fought fiercely until the enemy was subdued. It was an odd choice of a catch for Gad, who always had a harder time synchronizing with Fire-types and their generally chaotic, erratic and energetic thought patterns - but somehow, he found a way to the creature's mind rather shortly after it was caught. Soon enough, the Flarpion became a common sight in his main battle team, learning how to 'come out of its shell', so to speak, and use its potent acidic venom more efficiently.

Evolution seemed to take away the skittishness and introduce an odd sort of battle lust and thirst to prove oneself to the Scoruption. Being somewhat of a tank, Arano seems to enjoy pushing himself to his limits, sometimes toying with its opponents and provoking them to attack him. He is aware that he is not invincible - but he is pretty much dead set on strengthening himself until he, for all intent and purposes, is.

These three Pokémon constitute the backbone of Gad's current team - however he has access to a variety of other Pokémon caught in past journeys, some of which may appear throughout the plot. I'll update his bio with these critters as they show up.

 

[Dark Soul]

Name: Imogen Colton-Reid
Gender: Female
Hometown: Snowpoint City, Sinnoh
Age: 26
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 70 KG
Hair: Brown, two bangs falling to her shoulders at the sides of her head and a short ponytail at the back.
Eyes: Clouded grey.
Clothing: A thigh-length dark red sweater, black overcoat with wide open collar, long grey woolen leggings and black boots, and a white scarf with tassels.
Identifying Marks: Alongside her scarf, she wears a pair of weathered-looking aviator goggles on a strap around her neck.
Musculature: Lean.

Personality: Imogen is civil, collected and has well-practiced people skills; connecting to her true feelings, however, is a little harder for her, let alone expressing them. She tends to keep a self-imposed emotional distance from others until she's well enough acquainted. Still, she's pleasant and delights in intellectual discussions.
Skills: From her high-class upbringing, Imogen is well versed in a broad range of topics, though most have fallen to the wayside in her pursuit of archaeological discoveries. Her years on the road have left her skilled in wilderness survival, navigation and spelunking. In her passion for the ancient she's meticulous, noting all her findings in great detail.
Past: 'Colton' and 'Reid' are old money names- investments, shipping trades and mining built the fortune that came together when Imogen's parents married. As a child she was both investigative and shy. Her parents made the most of her intellectual promise by supplying her with in-house education and private tutors, with the unfortunate side effect of keeping her isolated and her social skills limited to the pleasantries of etiquette. At the age of sixteen Imogen felt bold enough to leave the constraints of her Snowpoint mansion, with the companionship of a Turtwig adopted from a regional scientist. Books on the matter of Sinnoh's ancient history spurred her passion for exploring old ruins and cataloguing her findings.

Family: Her mother, Meredith Reid, father Arthur Colton, her older brother Joshua and twin younger sisters Edith and Molly.
Love Relationships?: An on-and-off relationship with a girl back in Snowpoint. It's... complicated.

Species: Torterra
Name: Cybele
Personality: Endlessly patient and protective of his Trainer, Cybele is content to sleep most of his day away but will step in whenever others are endangered.
History: Cybele has been with Imogen every step of her journey, and the two have an unbreakable bond.
Special Features: A green ceremonial band is tied to the trunk of his shell's tree.

Species: Weavile
Name: Sheol
Personality: Crafty and mischievous, revels in fighting, and fond of spooking or pranking others.
History: Caught as a Sneasel who took to bothering Imogen and Cybele throughout their northern travels, she eventually grew so fond of the two that she joined up. She's particularly vicious against other Sneasels and Weaviles, for unknown reasons.
Special Features: Her left ear-plate has a slight nick out of the top.

Species: Milotic
Name: Llyr
Personality: Withdrawn, easily spooked, but a fierce fighter if she can get past her nerves.
History: In certain criminal circles, Feebas is considered a delicacy. Imogen found this out the hard way when she stumbled upon a lakeside poaching operation where Magikarp and were being netted with a single Feebas among them, being prized for her worth. Imogen made quick work of the nets and scared off the poachers with her Pokémon, releasing the Magikarp. The manhandled Feebas required special care from a Pokémon centre, and she had become very scared of humans. Imogen took her along and spent months on accustoming her to contact. Llyr finally came to trust Imogen completely after years together, and at that point evolved into Milotic.
Special Features: None.

Species: Staraptor
Name: Brigid
Personality: Despite its fearsome appearance, Brigid is a motherly bird who spends a lot of her time watching over her teammates and has a habit of helping out weak and smaller Pokémon.
History: Unlike Imogen's other Pokémon, Brigid was met when she was already fully evolved. Imogen had been trekking with a photographer from Hoenn when they witnessed a battle of succession between a Staraptor who'd been leading a large flock and her daughter. The elder was ousted and left behind after defeat; Imogen sought contact with the bird and, with a good word from Llyr, convinced her to take up a new family.
Special Features: A bit of greying in her black feathers.

Species: Anorith
Name: Charys
Personality: Endlessly curious, sometimes to her detriment, but trial and error teaches quick. This quality alongside her general aloofness make her prone to wandering off. Still, she's quite taken to Imogen and can get snippy when others approach her.
History: Revived from a fossil gifted to her by her Hoenn friend, Charys is the most recent addition to Imogen's team, though they've been together for close to two years now.
Special Features: None.

 

[Keleri]

Name: Wendi "Hicks" Hicks
Gender: F
Hometown: Port Brac, Gaiien
Age: 31

Appearance: 5'0", wiry, has light green eyes and purple hair in a bun that's been bleached to sort of a red-rosé color by the sun. Wears hiking boots and khaki/beige traveling clothes, a Tilley hat, and a large backpack when in the field. Has a smartphone-style pokedex and various tools: knives, scalpels, picks, brushes, etc.

Personality: Hicks has seen it all; she did her gym circuit in the famously-wild Gaiien region and escaped with all her fingers and toes. She's a cool head in an emergency and unexcited by danger, working quickly and safely to get the job done. Doesn't mind working alone and talking to her Pokemon, and can work in a team too, but has a tendency to follow her nose and wander off.

Skills: Hicks is a paleontologist with a sixth sense for finding fossil remains, and so she has the sometimes-enviable position of being allowed to Indiana Jones around regional parks and cave systems looking for new bone beds and deposits. She's also kept up her Pokemon team unlike some researchers, so she's the first choice for field missions and can operate without Pokemon Ranger backup. Also an accomplished climber and caver, she can wiggle through frankly terrifying keyholes in rock that are impossible for bigger people to get through and haul herself up a rock face almost one-handed. She can also cave dive but avoids it unless necessary because she likes living (though it's prob not that bad with Pokemon help).

Past: The usual: got a junior trainer license and a rescue Privant when she was 10, bopped around town battling on the boardwalks or hitting up the dojo until she was 18 as per Gaiien's somewhat restrictive League rules, finished the league over a couple of summers, went to university in Unova. Before going to uni, though, she interned with the steel-type gym leader in Port Brac and caught some attention for her ability to sniff out fossils, evolution stones, and other artifacts underground. Her Pokemon are now capable battlers, but specialize more in field moves and techniques to aid in exploration, and cheap shots and distractions to dissuade and escape from angry wild Pokemon.

Family: Parents are retired, has a sister and a brother.

Love Relationships: Her girlfriend works at Nacrene Museum in Unova but in a different field: machine learning, and she's working on putting together a database of aerial photos and energetic data related to sites of fossil discovery to aid in the process and hopefully take out some of the guesswork. Hicks's work serves as a useful database of hits and should-be-but-weren't misses.

Pokémon:
Chrysocolla - Reginant (Bug/Dragon) - F - Ability: Intimidate
Chrys was Hicks's first Pokemon, a rescue Privant who had been hurt and separated from its hive. Chrys was a bit of an oddity, longing to explore instead of settling into the set roles and conformity of her Reginant hive, and was hesitant to return after her Pokemon Center healing. Weirdos and misfits are perfect candidates for Pokemon Training, and before long she was matched up with a dirty and gap-toothed 10-year-old junior, and the two have been inseparable since. With Hicks Chrys evolved to Sarjant and then Reginant, an airplane-sized snakefly dragon bug, and she has balanced strengths and defenses.

Lapis Lazuli ("Lazy") - Silteel (Water/Ground) - M - Ability: Water Absorb
Lazy was a somewhat obligatory catch; in wild Gaiien it's basically required to have a water Pokemon who can supply and purify water, but he and Hicks got along well and he hasn't seen a reason to move on for over a decade. He's a large eel with blue and brown countershading and green waterweed-like patterns.

Hematite - Grimass (Dark) - F - Ability: Nightmare Moon (speed increases under night/darkness effect)
Hem is what you get if you took a draft equine and went "what if this nightmare beast also ate meat?"; she's black and purple with long ears, a stubby pair of extra limbs, and a long jaw full of sharp teeth. Hem smelled jerky in Hicks's pockets as a foal and never stopped following her around. She loves the opportunity to battle without limit with a trainer, without the level of danger and downtime that would result in the wild.

Carnelian - Varanitor (Poison/Fighting) - F - Ability: Poison Touch
Carn challenged Hicks to a brutal battle in southern Gaiien and was caught after a younger Chrys whittled her down with ground-type attacks. Carn is protective of Hicks and will aggressively display at newcomers while judging their intentions. She helps on Hicks's prospecting missions by moving boulders and can clamber after her on rock faces. She's a bipedal monitor lizard with a dull hide spotted with bright-colored blotches.

Zircon - Antepard (Ice/Fire) - Nonbinary/Plural - Ability: Antipodal (hits by Ice or Fire moves power up opposite type)
Zirc is mercurial to say the least, their mood able to flick like a switch between bored and content, quiet and yowling, and bloodthirsty to peaceful. They're the environmental specialist of the group, keeping warm when the wind is howling in the mountains, and cool when it's baking hot under the desert sun. Zirc challenged Hicks to a battle when she was training to fight Gaiien's Tier Eight gym leader in Sastruga Fjord, and she was grateful for the last-minute addition. Antepard is a two-headed big cat, with one side a blue snow leopard with red spots, and the other a hairless panther with a red hide and blue spots.

Heliodor - Farabattor (Electric/Rock) - M - Ability: Motor Drive
Od is the pride of Hicks's collection (as far as a team of living beings can be said to be a collection), the result of a beautiful and perfectly-preserved Sickle Fossil she found in the mines north of Port Brac. Although she is responsible for finding many fossils, not all specimens are appropriate for revivification, and what cloned fossil Pokemon can be produced are often adopted (with substantial fees to keep research going) by collectors, giving them the reputation as affectations of the wealthy. Still, as part of her substantial service, Hicks was allowed to care for the baby Curraptor and bonded with him, securing the fossil raptor as a part of her team. Od has a powerful earthsense and has been an asset in finding still more fossils and other treasures underground. Farabattor is a deinonychus with a rock-colored hide and electric-yellow feathers and quills.