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Species: Natu
Name: Metino Senkton
Gender: Male
Maturity: Adult
Acting Freefolk or Urban: Urban.
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Moveset: Psychic, Night Shade, Giga Drain, Teleport, Confuse Ray
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Species: Chesnaught
Name: Fennel Kastano
Gender: Male
Maturity: Adult
Acting Freefolk or Urban: Urban. Put bluntly, Fennel's early life was entirely average, if not a little dull. He grew up in the quiet suburbs of Hearthome, Sinnoh, the tranquil, and more importantly, stable atmosphere of the city attracting his parents who were emigrating from Kalos in search of greener pastures to raise their then newly hatched first born. Fennel himself could never have been called much of an extrovert, shy and skittish around new people and stimuli, content to spend most of his time aimlessly wandering the calm and uneventful streets around his home with a vague sort of curiosity. Not friendless or reviled like some of the more freefolk-esque Pokemon, Fennel did find himself spending quite a bit of time in quiet solitude nonetheless, and was perfectly happy in doing so. He was especially drawn to Amity Square, an enormous and exceptionally well-kept park in the middle of Hearthome that attracted Pokemon from all over the region. Despite the crowded nature of Amity Square being somewhat unappealing to him, as a Grass type he was naturally attracted to the vivid greenery that filled every inch of the park.
His life at home was similarly secluded and quiet. His parents worked as movers, an easy enough job for a pair of five and a half foot tall armadillo monsters. As such, their shifts were unpredictable in timing and length, and often there was only one at home, if either. Not absent to the point of neglect, though not the spitting image of "parents of the year," either. Unable to provide constant watch and care for their child, they decided to kill two birds with one stone and hire a private full time tutor that would not only teach him the essentials but also make sure their young child didn't accidentally kill himself in some convoluted way while their backs were turned (anything can happen, after all, when your closest neighbors can bend the world around them to their will with nothing but the force of their mind and ignite everything around them in a raging inferno because they were feeling a little pouty).
The tutor in question Fennel's parents ended up hiring was an… interesting character. A Natu of ambiguous age and even more ambiguous motives, but who worked for cheap and seemed to know more than the three of them combined. His name was Metino Senkton. At first the two made a poor team, Metino's distanced and near-robotic nature compounded by his riddle like dialect only widened the gap between him and a frustrated Fennel. After a few years, however, the Chespin slowly began to warm up to his mentor, albeit with some hesitation. The majority of his childhood was spent under this Natu's careful discipline, the more complex lessons going more or less over his head (Fighting types and their kin were, after all, not the most well known for their intellect) though almost everything he does know can be traced back these times with Metino.
By the time he was late into his middle stage as a Quilladin, Fennel had completed his homeschooling, though him and Metino kept close. For awhile, at least. The Natu continued to visit Fennel and would often accompany him on trips to the park, though his agenda remained mysterious as ever. After awhile he started to become spacey and distant around Fennel, and once he finally evolved into a Chesnaught and moved out of his parents house to pursue his own life goals—a sudden but quiet transition that went on with little fanfare, just as most things Fennel did—Metino stopped talking to him altogether and began disappearing for long periods of time with no explanation. Eventually he left and just didn't come back, and as far as fennel knew, that was the end of that. It stung that his long time friend and mentor would seemingly betray him like this, but unable to do anything about it, he had no choice but to continue life as normal, or at least, as normal as he could manage.
No longer a child with an excuse to rely on the support of his family, as well as recent abandonment by one of the most important people in his life, Fennel's otherwise uneventful and sheltered lifestyle took an unsteady turn. He wandered the city without aim, no home to call his own (it was, predictably, difficult finding an apartment that was both cheap and accommodated his large size) and trying to stay afloat as he took any odd job he could find. As stress piled on top of him, his skittish and introverted personality turned into something more neurotic and high-strung. Simply put, Fennel had become an absolute wreck. It only got worse, and who knew what would have become of the stranded Chesnaught had he not been picked back up by an unexpected pair.
The first of the two was, surprisingly enough, Metino. The Natu offered no explanation to his disappearance in spite of Fennel's furious questioning, lips sealed for reasons beyond Fennel's knowledge, although he did introduce him to his new partner: a freefolk Togepi, who could only barely speak broken fragments of Common, but seemed more than eager to learn about and integrate into urban life.
Metino explained that he had plans to form a battling team—a shock to Fennel, who had always understood his mentor was less than interested in anything even close to competitive battling. He was, at first, hesitant, not too fond of battling himself nor especially eager to put his faith back into the person he'd trusted so much only to be abandoned without explanation. However, with plenty of long talks, some child-like begging by Opal (who barely understood what a battle team was, but was more than ready to find out and jump headfirst into), and likely some extra "convincing" via Metino's natural psychic influence over Fennel, expanded by his recently added Fighting type, the duo were able to convince Fennel to take the soonest boat to Hoenn with them and take on the Evergrande League.
And so they did, and after a few weeks of preparing for the trip they made their way over to the archipelago and registered their team. Though they've seen limited success as of yet (taking on a gym leader at one point, though failing miserably) their training has progressed considerably since when they first started.
Strengths: As one would expect from a Chesnaught, Fennel is essentially the Pokemon equivalent of a tank, able to take heavy blows without breaking a sweat and dish them back out just as hard. He is especially proficient with the large shields built into his arms, which he can extend individually and dual wield or bring together for a more sturdy build.
Although perhaps a bit more subtle and muted in him than most Chesnaught, Fennel still instinctively retains the trademark defensiveness of himself and others his species is well known for. It is most visible in him where Opal is concerned, who he sees as almost a sister figure, though he isn't apt to leave anyone in immediate danger if he senses a threat.
Weaknesses: Physically, Fennel is the exact opposite of agile. Saddled with the enormous weight of his bulk and rendered stiff as a board by his shell—the only act of "finesse" he can perform being curling up into a ball—dodging proves difficult if not impossible for Fennel most of the time and he often has to rely on a defensive style rather than evasive. While not always an issue for a Pokemon who was built to stomach attacks, moves such as Fire Blast and Dazzling gleam can easily slice right through his defenses.
In addition, he is also notably unstable. Reserved and shy in his interactions, becoming paranoid and jumpy in more stressful situations, he can certainly be over defensive not just of himself but his allies. Not entirely unsocial, but has an obvious air of wariness and distrust about him, strangers may have to go to great lengths to prove that they're not secretly plotting to brutally murder him and his friends in their sleep or something equally ridiculous.
Moveset: Needle Arm, Hammer Arm, Rollout, Take Down, Spiky Shield
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Species: Togetic
Name: Opal
Gender: Female
Maturity: Young
Acting Freefolk or Urban: Freefolk. Practically a wild animal until the later parts of her life, Opal was born and raised in the vast, maze like woods of Eterna Forest. She never got a chance to meet either of her parents, whether she had been abandoned or stranded by more unfortunate circumstances never being made clear, though that was hardly a deterrent to the newly hatched Togepi. One can't miss what they never had, after all. Still, in spite of her blissfully ignorant glee about the world around her, this did nothing to stop her unfortunate circumstances. A species so weak and unremarkable that is was put in a class known as "baby Pokemon" and with no authority figures to guide her through life, the only reason she survived those first few years and beyond that can only be described as dumb luck. Fortunate enough to be born a Togepi, Opal had a sturdy shell to protect her from the elements and some of the more rowdy Pokemon who inhabited the forest with her, and could go through life without the need to learn how to forage, being able to subsist entirely on the positive emotions of other Pokemon, an easy enough task that only required following around any particularly happy Pokemon nearby (of course, they usually weren't too happy once they learned a toddler who could only speak broken bits of Common like "Hi" or "I like you" was stalking them around the forest, but that's besides the point). Were she any Pokemon besides Togepi, it's not a far stretch to say Opal would not have lived long at all, but, lucky for her, she wasn't!
For about two years she lived like this, maturing rapidly in the progress as she reached the full maturity possible for her current stage, though her mental development was obviously a bit behind on account of growing up with no one to call a parent outside of the occasional kind freefolk and any wild animals who would tolerate her presence. This never seemed to bother her, though, and she remained cheerful as ever. Unbeknownst to Opal however, things were not going to be like this for much longer.
It was just like any other day when she was confronted by a strange Pokemon, one she'd never seen in the woods before. It tried to talk to her using the strange sounds the other Pokemon did, the ones she only knew a few of, and then it tried to talk to her using words she'd never heard. It didn't lose interest like the other Pokemon did, though—if anything, it just got more prodding and interested. Eventually, the Pokemon started talking again, this time using sounds she could understand. The Pokemon explained that his name was Metino, a Natu whose psychic abilities allowed him to speak to even an illiterate Pokemon such as herself. He said he'd been looking for a Pokemon like her for a long time now, and that he'd teach her how to speak Common and introduce her to a far more civilized and friendly world than the deepest parts of Eterna Forest if she agreed to come with him and perform a "simple favor" for him later on. Not sure what any of this meant, but eager for company, she agreed without hesitation, and so Opal and this strange Metino Pokemon became a team.
It was a long and difficult learning process for her. Common was a… complicated language, to say the least, quite different from her usual, simple vocalizations of "pipi" or "tipi-ti." This was on top of adjusting to the urban world, specifically Eterna City, which was a far cry from the forest she'd grown up in. It wasn't all necessarily bad, though, and Opal was not without her simple pleasures in this new bustling environment. She had become especially enamored with the art of drawing. Metino seemed to think it was little more than a waste of time, but he didn't stop her, and before long she had become a proficient artist, scribbling down every little thing she could cram into her sketchbook.
After about a year, Opal not only learning the basics of communication during this time as well as getting a better understanding of urban life, but also finally getting a proper name to be called by, Metino made a sudden and unexpected announcement, finally revealing what the special favor he'd made Opal swear to when they first met: he was forming a battle team that he'd be taking to Hoenn, and he wanted Opal to come with him. Opal had heard of battle teams before, but only had a faint idea of what they actually did or what the point of them was. Still, Metino being the only parental figure in her life, she was not eager to lose him any time soon, and agreed. Before they could do anything, though, they apparently were going to need to talk with someone else over in Hearthome on the other side of the region.
When they arrived, Metino introduced her to a new Pokemon whose species she'd never seen before: a Chesnaught. His name was Fennel, and he seemed to know Metino, though seemed none too pleased to be face to face with the Natu again. Excited by the prospect of a new friend, however, Opal begged him to come with them no matter what their past was like, completely oblivious to Metino and Fennel's history. In the end, despite a great deal of reluctance on Fennel's part, he agreed, and a full team was formed. The next thing Opal knew they were on a boat to a brand new place called Hoenn, the excitement of which overwhelming her to the point that she managed to evolve into a Togetic while doing basic training on the ride.
When they got there, the team found themselves unable to agree on a name. It was Opal who had the spectacularly clever idea to combine their species names to form Team Nachti. Not what her teammates had in mind, but nobody argued against it, either, and so Team Nachti they were.
Strengths: Friendly, upbeat, and always positive, Opal is a socializer through and through, even if this is mainly on account of being unaware of any sort of negativity around her. Although language barriers can prove problematic for her, anyone able to understand her and anyone she can understand she has no problem getting friendly with, whether or not they're actually interested in interacting with her. As a Pokemon who literally feeds on happiness, her aim is always to please, even to a fault at times.
She has a knack for art, and constant practice has allowed her to become excellent at drawing despite only having a pencil in her hands for about a year and a half. She has difficulty drawing from memory, but can replicate anything in front of her with surprising grace and efficiency. She carries a sketchbook and several pencils in a small tote bag with her at all times in the event she sees something she wants to draw, which is practically every other minute.
Although not the best battler, as a Togetic Opal naturally has good defensive capabilities. Able to take hits with relative ease and self sustaining during battle with Wish, she is much better at whittling down opponents slowly rather than outright crushing them, unlike her partners. There is also, of course, the nice bonus that comes with being able to fly.
Weaknesses: Socially, Opal is beyond oblivious. Body language, hints, sarcasm, and other subtleties are entirely lost on her, and most of the time things have to be explicitly explained for her to understand. This is made worse by her poor grasp on Common, and she often misinterprets what is being told to her or simply doesn't understand at all, and can struggle to express her own feelings with words without Metino's help.
In battle her offensive capabilities are mediocre at best. Although she can take a few hits, it's not quite as easy for her to deal any damage herself.
Moveset: Fairy Wind, Magical Leaf, Charm, Wish, Metronome