Name: Thomas Bartholomew Lakeland
Nickname: Shades
Age: 17
Place of Birth: We will just say Vermilion City
Appearance: The boy is a well built and well-developed youth with dark skin and an overall demeanor of "leave me alone." Thick, well kempt dreadlocks fall in a graceful frame (except on the rare occasion a tie binds them helplessly behind the boy's head) around the dark skinned youth's facial feature, covering up his rather large ears in the process. Dark, deep-set eyes stare uncomfortably at the world that passes them, moving it a timid manner that is odd for the young man's overall size. Purposely, the outside world is not given opportunity to view what those dark eyes might hold due to a rather dark pair of cheap sunglasses propped upon a flat nose with a tendency to flare when place in a socially situation. White teeth and a fantastic smile hide timidly behind nervous lips. A strong jaw and chin finish out an otherwise handsome face if not for the uncomfortable demeanor that holds it together.
The boy's body is that of one who has spent a good deal of time lifting and moving things. A thick neck attached to thick shoulders attached to thick arms attached to etc. He is a thick individual. Standing only 5'7", Thomas's body is very compact and possesses a lot of strength. Rough hands in continuous motion can be seen moving in various places on the boy's body: running through his hair, entering and leaving the saw-dusty jean pockets, or fidgeting with the top button of his thick, red button up shirt whose sleeves are usually rolled up to the elbows. A simple brown belt holds up the jeans that cover the boy's short of strong legs. Worn brown work boots cover the callous feet and dirty brown socks of someone who would rather spend his time in a workshop than on the road. An old, dirty brown backpack is thrown over his right shoulder when traveling. The only items of interest carried in his bag are a fiddle (which can be seen sticking out of the top of the bag), some replacement strings, and some simple carving tools.
Personality: Thomas is a young man of very few words. He speaks few words because words are overused and misused far too often by people seeking to lie, cheat, flattery, steal, hurt, or to simple get a laugh at the expense of someone else. Yes, words have a tendency to cut without intention or reveal secretes that didn't even exist. And the damned tongue does nothing to aid in this ongoing disaster. Sly and slippery, the tongue is completely untamable by man. Thomas decided a long time ago that it would be best to just keep the beast in its cage as often as possible. When he does speak, however, Thomas tends to show wisdom far beyond his age. Many would consider this a wonderful thing. The many would be correct if it weren't for the fact that Thomas was absolutely terrified of any group larger than 1. The poor guy is probably one of the most socially awkward people you will ever meet. This tends to cause Thomas to shy away from situations that involve…well, people. That would not be completely correct. Thomas loves helping people…just as long as they don't know about it or give him any credit.
For all of his strength, Thomas is an extremely gentle young man. His muscles have never been used for anything other than creating. Thomas has never gotten into a fight. In fact, he has never even been in a position where fighting was an option. So, it is probably impossible to actually know how the young man would handle himself in a fistfight (I think he would do well). Thomas is very slow to anger. Insults tend to be too petty and weak to warrant a response, and physical attacks rarely hold the power to put a dent in the solid young man. The only real way to get a rise out of the young man would be to hurt a woman in his presence, though that is just a speculation (I wouldn't take the risk of trying to find out what would happen though).
Thomas spends a lot of time in his own mind. Probably a little too much time. He tends to forget things easily and unintentionally ignore people who are trying to talk to him. Whether working in a workshop or just walking from place to place, Thomas is constantly engrossed in the wonders of the world and life in general. A poet at heart, Thomas spend much of his free time reading books of every variety, carving different items from spare piece of wood, or playing his fiddle. Thomas's main reason for wishing to begin his pokemon journey is the same reason that has caused men throughout history to do things, a woman. More particularly, he wants to collect as many pokemon as he can so he can show her all the amazing creatures there are in the world. It is a simple desire, but work just fine for a simple young man.
History: Thomas lost both of his parents when he was only six years old. Seeing that statement, one would obviously assume that both of his parents had passed away in some way or another. While no life had left their bodies, they might as well been dead for all that their son saw of them. Both of his parents (Wolfgang Lakeland and Alexis Freemont) were extremely talented pokemon trainers. They had met during their travels, continued traveling together, fell in love, married, settled down, and had a healthy boy. What else could you want? Apparently something that could not be found with your son. Thomas was left in the care or his elderly grandmother as his lovingy parents went off to enjoy more of their adventures without the burden of a child. So you might have to excuse Thomas if he didn't particularly enjoy the thought of going off on his own little adventure any time soon, abandoning his life and responsibilities….not to mention love. Oh sure, his parents wrote letter and kept in contact as often as possible. They would talk about all the amazing adventure they were having and all the wonderful sights they were seeing and how much they loved him. There was even a time that the boy lived for those calls and letters. That changed when they broke their promise to come back. Eventually the letters stopped coming. The phone no longer contained their voices. Thomas was 9 at the time, almost ten. That was 7 years ago.
There is more you need to know to completely under why Thomas hated the idea of having his own pokemon. Not long after his parents stopped contacting him, the boy's grandmother became sick. The doctor's did not think it was very serious. "She'll be better in no time," they said. Surprise, surprise….they were wrong. Not being old enough to take care of himself and with his parents nowhere to be found, the boy was to be sent to an orphanage in one of the larger cities nearby. (You might be wondering where Thomas lives about now. Well, considering that the dark skinned youth does not like to tell….anyone really, I struggle to see why you should know. But I guess some would consider it important, so I will tell you that it was a little town called Libdon that is found not too far outside of Vermilion City. Anyways back to the history.) Thankfully, before that could happen, the local carpenter/contractor stepped up and offered to give the boy a place to live. The man's name was Barsidious Donaldson, and he had been a long time good friend of Thomas's father. It would later be revealed that the man was actually his guardian, but that isn't important now. The man gave Thomas a place to focus his anger at his parents for leaving him. He gave him something to do. He tried multiple times to speak to the boy about why his parents left, but Thomas would have nothing of it, though he would eventually learn that they had been killed on their way back home 7 years ago. The desire to find out why still exist in the young man, but he hasn't decided to pursue the knowledge yet.
As time past, Thomas became a part of the Donaldson family. Mary, the wife, was hesitant at first, but as time went by Thomas proved to be a much needed help to Barsidious. The boy picked up Barsidious's craft rather quickly and was on the fast track to taking up the business himself one day. And it wasn't just the mother that was warming up to the boy. Meagan Donaldson, who was a year younger than the boy, and Thomas had taken quite a liking to each other. Barsidious had even taken up the habit of asking when the wedding was going to be (joking of course, but he was quite aware that it was a possibility). Yes, everything was going well. So well in fact that when the time came for Thomas to choose whether to go on his pokemon adventure, the young man decided against it. He was needed at home. He wanted to be at home.
Unfortunately, things have a tendency to fall a part. I would love to tell you what changed in between Thomas decision to not go on his journey at 13 and receiving a letter from Bastion 5 days ago. I would love to tell you but I won't. It isn't my place to tell you. If you truly want to know, you are going to have to pry it out of Thomas. Approach the topic is caution though. Let's just say he is doing it for a girl. That gives you more than you need, but not enough to do any damage. Regardless, Thomas now finds himself far from home with little knowledge of what is in store from him. Even worse, he doesn't know much about pokemon. His resolve, however, is stronger than ever.
Extra Information: Thomas is going for the typical guy pokemon collection. Mostly, anything that is fluffy and cute…wait…what?
Roleplaying Sample
Obadiah Samuel Woodsworth
"Raphael!" The sight of the small pink Munna bouncing across the ground after taking such a vicious strike from the sneaky mole-like pokemon caused both rage and fear to swell to overflowing levels in the young trainer. There was no struggle to get up, no squeals of pain, and no hope for the small creature to continue the fight. The attack had succeeded in knocking the Munna out cold. For the first time since receiving the creature, Obadiah held up the creature's pokeball. With a simple command, "Raphael return," a beam of red light gulfed the defeated pokemon, sending her to a safe haven until she could receive medical attention. Getting to a place where medical attention could be given was going to be a bit more difficult than making a flash of red light. The young trainer was going to have to figure out how to deal with the rather angry mole pokemon that was glaring at him in a rather unfriendly way. The situation was only made worse by the fact that the dark skinned trainer's only remaining pokemon was still clinging rather tightly to his jeans. There wasn't going to be any fight out of the timid Buneary this day. Escape was going to be their only option. The mole-like pokemon didn't look like he was interested in just letting them walk away though. At least not until the creature got what it wanted.
"Anna," Obadiah said with a clam but stern voice. "I'm going to need you to drop the food on the ground. We can find you something else to eat, but we need to get out of here right now. Just put the food on the ground, we will back up slowly. Is that understood?" The young trainer risked losing sight of their attacker and took a look down at the long eared pokemon. The creature was undeniably scared but managed to nod her head with a very soft, "Buneary," in response to the young man. Very slowly, the Buneary lowered the food in her arms to the ground. Not wanting to put her through anything else, Obadiah reached down and pulled the terrified Buneary into his arms and started to back up. Appearing to not be completely sure what was happening, Thing One slowly took steps towards the food.
After taking three very slow steps backwards, Obadiah had a very good feeling that his plan was going to work. Anna was content on staying in his arms and the mole pokemon was not showing any threat of attacking. Everything was going to be alright. He would make to the next town and get Raphael some help, all without putting Anna in the position of having to fight anything. "Well played good sir," the young trainer mumbled to himself with a hint of satisfaction. "Very well pla…Ahhh!"
A beak striking him in the middle of his back brought forth a cry of pain from the young trainer as he stumbled forward from the impact. One step…a second step…and then he was falling. It took a lot of effort, but Obadiah was able to twist his body enough to keep from landing with all his weight on Anna. The food she had just laid down as a peace offering to Thing One was not as lucky. The young man could feel it crushing beneath him and he connected with the ground. More than slightly confused, Obadiah had little chance to figure out what had just happened. Feeling the vibrations of feet striking earth getting quickly closer, Obadiah rolled swiftly to his right, avoiding a pair of claws striking where his head had been moments before. Scrambling to his feet in a less than graceful manner, the young man desperately tried to get a handle on the situation. The movement of a flying feathery figure to his right forced him to abandon the thought as he ducked to avoid a beak to the face. The distraction was enough for him to forget about Thing One for a moment too long. The short but sturdy pokemon slammed into the dark skinned youth's chest (technically his arms which were currently being used to hold Anna close to his chest). Having lost his balance from avoiding whatever else was attacking him, the young man was sent toppling backwards. Obadiah ended up on his back, Anna still clutched in his arms, with Thing One on top of him. The angry pokemon raised its arms in the air ready to strike at the helpless man below him. Not having another option, the boy shouted the only thing he could think of to avoid the attack, "Anna, Pound him in the face with your ears!"
Now to be honest, Obadiah was less than confidant that his desperate plan would work in the long run. The Buneary had not been exactly brave so far when it came to facing the mole-like creature. On the other hand, the Buneary had yet to disobey whenever the young man had asked her to do something. For whatever reason, the long eared pokemon seemed to completely trust Obadiah even though she had only been with the young man for a short period of time. Whatever the reason for this trust, Obadiah prayed that the blind obedience would extend to fighting as well, something the timid pokemon seemed (at least up until this point) inclined away from doing.
As the claws came down, two fluffy ears extend. With nothing to block the attack, Thing One was force to take the attack directly to the face. The attack lacked power, but it was enough to disorient the creature. Seeing his opportunity, Obadiah released his hold on Anna and used his hands to throw the mole pokemon off of him to the right. Pulling himself up, the young man was finally able to figure out what was going on. Searching the area, the only other living thing to be seen was a single Spearow sitting on the branch of a nearby tree, surveying the scene below it with an ominous glare. It appeared to be just another random pokemon until the young man caught sight of its left side. The creature's wing looked odd. The wing didn't look broken, but it was almost like someone had kicked the… "You have got to be kidding me…"
It was same bird from the day before: the one that Obadiah had kicked after Raphael had defeated it. "I should have kicked the damn thing harder," the annoyed trainer cursed to himself as he glared hatefully at the creature in the tree. The sound of movement on the ground behind him brought a panic to the young trainer. Crap! I'm still in the middle of a battle. "Anna, Curl up in Defense," Obadiah shouted without actually seeing what was happening. Turning back around, the scene that greeted the young trainer was one of Thing One landing a rather painful scratch on a curled up Anna. The force of the hit sent the Buneary rolling backwards. Obadiah was already two steps into his sprint to reach his pokemon when something surprising happened. After rolling head over heels about three times, the Buneary gained a sudden control over herself. Pushing lightly off the ground with her foot, Anna managed to perform a stunning backflip, landing softly on top of a medium sized boulder. What was even more surprising, however, was the large smile that was on the creatures face. The fear and trembling that had handicapped the Buneary only minutes before were gone. Strangely enough, the Buneary actually looked like she was having fun. Obadiah found it difficult not to smile and laugh at the change of events.
"Haha, that's my girl. Now let's show these two reject what we're made of." Finishing his run, Obadiah took a stand behind the Buneary so that he could see both of their attackers…attacker. "Damnit, where'd that bird go?" Obadiah had his answer a second later when caught sight of the Spearow diving from the left in an attempt to attack the newly confidant Buneary's flank. "Get in the air and Pound that thing to the ground with one of your ears," the young trainer ordered to Anna while trying to think of a plan that would take out both of the attacking pokemon. Ears curled tightly, the Buneary launched herself into the air with a just enough force to clear the diving bird's beak. Rotating her body into a front flip, the long eared pokemon unleashed one of her ears down towards the Spearow streaking below. The attack would have been deadly, but the bird pokemon was too fast, avoiding the attack by rolling to the right. Having missed her target, Anna was now in danger of being hit herself. Thing One was sprinting to where the Buneary was about to land. There was no way that the long eared pokemon was going to be able to land and jump again in time to avoid the attack…unless
"Anna, Pound the ground!" Right as the Buneary reached the ground she quickly uncoiled her other ear and struck the earth beneath. The force of her ear hitting the ground was just strong enough to lift Anna back into the air just as Thing One reached where she had been with its claws. Not expecting to miss, the mole-like pokemon had put all of its weight behind the attack resulting in a loss of balance when it connected with nothing but air. Seeing the opening, Obadiah jumped to action. "Now's your chance, hit it will another Pound." Curling her ears back to her head, the Buneary unleashed both of her ears into the back of the creatures head. Already off balance, the strike sent the mole pokemon stumbling forward towards a nearby boulder. Obadiah knew that he could not let the creature regain its composure. "Anna, get in close and finish it off with another Pound." The Buneary, face covered with excited smile, covered the distance to Thing One in a single hop, adding a flip to make it interesting. Just as she was about to attack however, Obadiah saw his feathery friend dive once again from the sky. Crap, it's just going to keep using that damn mole as a distraction. I got to take one of them out. The idea came quickly, and the young trainer spoke as quickly as he thought. "Jump over the mole thing and Pound it in the face!"
"Bun bun, Buneary," Anna exclaimed as she leapt forward and over the mole-like pokemon. Upside down in the air and staring with a smile at her confused opponent, the happy Buneary fiercely unraveled her ears into the face of her attacker. Dizzy, confused, and in pain, Thing One stumbled back two steps into the path of an attacking Spearow. The Spearow, unable to avoid its new target, was force to follow through with its attack, slamming its beak into the unfortunate pokemon and sending it to the ground. "One down and one to go, Anna. You're doing amazing. Keep it up." The Buneary, now bouncing up and down on the boulder, seemed to be enjoying herself. "Bun bun, Buneary. Bun bun, Buneary," the creature sang as she waited for her next command. Turning his focus to the sky, Obadiah search and located the Spearow circling overhead. The bird seemed content to just lazily soar along, waiting for an opening to strike.
"Damn bird thinks it owns the sky. I think it's gotten a bit full of himself, Anna." The Buneary did a backflip in agreement. Obadiah was starting to like the creature new attitude. Ever since she took that first hit, it is almost like the Buneary had realized that things were not as scary as she had made them out to be. Almost like a kid getting a shot. The actual shot is never as bad as what the kid makes it out to be in their mind. "Alright then, let's show that waste of feathers that it isn't the only pokemon here who can fly. Jump up there and give it a nice Pound" With a smile, the Buneary bent her legs and launched herself into the air up at a very surprise Spearow. Surprised as it was, the bird was still able to avoid the thrusting ears of the Buneary. It's just too fast. Anna's never going to hit it at this rate. As the Buneary began her decent, Obadiah noticed a more serious problem than accuracy. The Spearow had gathered itself and was on the attack. It was going to try and hit Anna right as she reached the ground. Obadiah knew he needed to figure out a way to end this fight quickly.
"Anna, use Foresight to even the playing field" Still falling from the sky, the Buneary closed her eyes and seemed to enter a strange state of meditation (well, as much as you can when you're falling out of the sky). She also entered into a serious of front flips. The next few moments were going to take amazing timing, and Obadiah knew it. Taking a deep breath, the young trainer unleashed his plan right as Anna was about to reach the ground and be hit by the diving Spearow. "Pound the ground and push yourself in the same direction as the bird then finish it off." Ears connected with earth as the Buneary gave herself a little boast into the air to avoid the incoming Spearow and position herself directly above where the bird pokemon was going. Looking up, the Spearow was greeted by a smile and a cheerful, "Buneary," follow quickly by two ears to the face. As the Spearow slammed into the ground, Anna finished a graceful flip and stuck a perfect landing. Two down. The next moment, she was being tossed back into the air by a pair of thick arms.
"Yeah! You were awesome!" The attention was almost too much for the Buneary to take. Though Obadiah could not tell, the long eared pokemon was blushing as much as it was possible for the pokemon to blush. Catching the Buneary as she came back down, the young trainer continued his praise. "And to think you were scared of leaves this morning. Ha, I can barely believe it." Setting the creature back on the ground, Obadiah began to calm just a bit. He was less embarrassed about his outburst than he would normally be because no one was around to see it. Regardless, it wasn't something he wanted to make a habit out of. Still, he could not help but be proud of the timid creature at his feet. He would have to get her something nice in town.
"Alright Anna, let's get to town so we can get Raphael some help. She took some nasty hits in that battle." Patting the Buneary on the head, Obadiah set off down the path at a quickened pace. Not liking birds or things that attack him, the young trainer left all three pokemon knock-out in the field. A cheerful Buneary hopped along happily behind him as he went.
OOC: The sample is from one of my favorite characters. A young man who hates pokemon being force into a journey with a Munna and a Buneary. It was so much for to write.