Name: Katherine 'Kat' Walker
Gender: Female
Age: 19
Appearance:
Kat is a small girl, only just cresting 5 foot 6. A very specific number, guessing her any smaller is likely to make you an enemy. Despite her small frame she is far from delicate; her belief that a trainer should train themselves just as hard as they did their pokemon leaving her with a formidable set of muscles gracing her lithe body.
Skilled pokemon providing her with both protection and money have given Kat the chance to focus on her appearance in her later years, compared to her boring but practical and cheap fare as a beginning trainer. She has light green eyes and shoulder length straw coloured hair that she dyes a mixture of red and orange shades. She wears small studs in her ears with green gems a similar shade to her eyes and a necklace made out of light blue stones.
Like many professional trainers, Kat has a very distinctive style in order to make herself easily recognisable and she was wearing a variation of this when she set off for the trip. She wears a tight black t-shirt and over it an oddly designed tan jacket. The jacket is fairly thick and has long sleeves but the practicality stops literally halfway down; the jacket ends about level with her navel and, when worn open and secured with a nearly invisible black strap, looks very recognisable.
Lower down her clothing is a bit more normal. She wears tight denim skinny jeans with a thick leather belt holding her pokeballs looped in at one side and left to dangle on the other. Her boots are made of leather dyed the same shade as her jacket and extend over her jeans halfway up her shin. She keeps most of her belongings in a leather messenger bag, making use of Pokecapsule technology for big items.
Personality: Kat is a bright, cheery and sociable girl who always seems to be at the centre of what's happening, chatting away. Despite the somewhat air headed first impression she gives off Kat is a focused and skilled trainer with a keen mind for tactics and the drive to succeed. Her chatty nature serves a purpose as well; Kat has an incredibly strong interest about the people around her and loves hearing the stories of others; she used to help out in a retirement home just so she could ask the residents to tell her their life stories, an arrangement both sides enjoyed.
Kat can be somewhat flighty at times, drifting from goal to goal as she makes her way through life. Her pokemon training is the exception to this rule; Kat has dreamed of being a professional trainer since she was young and she has no intention of giving it up now she has gotten here.
Kat's constant talking and drive to become a famous trainer do have an ulterior motive. Kat has an extremely strong need for attention and if she isn't getting it, her mental state tends to decline. While she never has and never will admit it to anyone, during the time she travelled alone she underwent a period of depression when her training career was going badly and she had no one to talk to. Kat's need for attention and Mike's tendency to shower all his attention on a few people are why two so different people are so close; despite the differences these two things help them click together, though their relationship has since advanced to somewhat more healthy grounding.
As the above might suggest, Kat isn't the most mentally stable person. When things are going well she is fine and can get into a "streak" of sorts, building on the confidence of her successes to create more success. However when things start going wrong she can easily fall into a downwards spiral and crumble; a state of mind that can be hard to shake off.
History: Katherine was born in sleepy Nuevma Town in the Unova region, raised by a single father who was a retired pokemon trainer. The spent her childhood fantasising over pokemon trainers battling and dreaming about the time when she would be able to set out as a trainer herself.
When she was 12 years old Kat set out on a pokemon journey with her childhood friends Michael Orion and William King. The three traveled together around the Unova region for several months but eventually, they split up. Will had found his passion in the sea and the pokemon that dwelt within, while Kat and Mike were both determined to continue on their path of challenging the region's gyms so, sadly, the trio split.
Kat and Mike traveled together for about a year after splitting from Will, continuing their circuit of the Unova region's gyms, after an eventful and difficult journey together the two gathered all eight badges and competed in that years pokemon league tournament. While Mike didn't do too well in the tournament Kat practically saw her childhood dreams flashing before her eyes as she placed eighth in her first major tournament.
It was here that, sadly, the two went their separate ways. Kat wanted to travel to Johto, challenge the gyms there and take her path as a professional trainer further in the Silver Conference while Mike wanted to follow his parents as a pokemon researcher; a task which would take him first to the Orange Islands. Despite the strong bonds built by two years traveling together the two were resolute to follow their separate paths, though they made sure to keep in touch.
With the confidence and experience of the pokemon league tournament behind her Kat's career as a professional trainer took off quickly. She went around an express circuit of the Johto gyms and had collected all 8 badges in time to compete in the next Silver Conference. Once again, she performed well in the tournament but failed to grab one of the very top slots.
For the next few years this pattern repeated itself; while Kat would often place well in a tournament and quickly made a name for herself she never actually managed to grab that elusive victory. Discouraged she stopped participating in tournaments and instead focused on training her pokemon and herself in an attempt to make a glorious comeback. It was while doing this that Mike contacted her not with the usual catching up they shared, but with an offer to actually meet up. Mike was in Johto to explore a tract of unexplored forest and mountain in the far north of the continent and Kat decided to come along with him, looking forwards both to spending some time with her old friend and the extreme training that such an untamed place would provide.
The job, by necessity, had Mike and Kat spending several months alone together. They had always been extremely good friends but now, with them both older and more mature, that friendship matured into something more. When they both returned to civilisation they did so as a proudly proclaimed couple. The two began traveling together once more; well as much as two people with such contrasting schedules could. Where once they might have called each other once a month or so, now they timed their travels so they were rarely apart for more than a week at a time.
It was while traveling together like this that they were contacted by Will. Will had taken on a job with the OEL and was looking to recruit trainers for it. The position sounded perfect for Mike and Kat didn't have any complaints about the idea, so the two signed up along with Will to serve on the submarine.
Sample: It was nerve-racking, going under the ocean like this. No matter what Kat did or where she went inside the submarine she couldn't quite help think about the water pressing in all around them. Fortunately there was plenty to keep her distracted and that thought in the back of her mind; the submarine was filled with people and not just any people, trainers and researchers. People with interesting stories to tell. It was pretty much heaven for her, though she felt a twinge of sadness when she noticed Mike dealing with the crowding nowhere near as well as her.
It was later, after several busy hours, that it happened. Things had quieted down and she had retreated to where Mike was sat, settling herself against the wall opposite him when she noticed that he had fallen asleep at some point. Kat was almost asleep herself when she heard an odd groan from up ahead, followed by raised voices. She pushed herself to her feet and started making her way up to the front of the submarine, frowning as she heard the groaning sound again, this time even louder. She passed through the door to the front of the ship just in time to see a sharp rock pierce through the metal.
For a moment she stood there, stunned until a wave of water rushed in and hit her square in the chest, knocking her back and to the ground. All around her people were waking up, panicked screams filling the submarine as the passengers began to realise what was happening. Kat's mind finally snapped out of it's shocked stupor and she forced herself up and onto her feet, turning to dart back down the submarine. Her eyes desperately scanned for any familiar faces in the chaos as she ran but there were so many people the faces seemed to blur together and finding either Mike or Will seemed impossible.
Then lady luck decided to give her a break and when a secondary impact sent her tumbling off her feet, she literally fell into one of the people she was looking for. Mike looked almost as shell-shocked as she felt and the two clung tightly to each other, Kat burying her face in his shoulder as a large rock tore through the roof near them. "**** **** **** we're gonna die." she muttered desperately as the water crushed them against the wall, not noticing Mike releasing his Kabutops until she felt the flat of it's blade pressing against her back.
She looked at the pokemon and then upwards again at the hole it was looking at and before she even had a chance to protest they were gone, catapulted into the darkness in a jet of bubbles.
Pokemon:
Species: Pyroar
Nickname: Nala
Gender: Female
Personality: Nala is a strong and proud pokemon. She acts somewhat like an nurturing mother towards Kat and shares her trainer's competitive nature then it comes to battling. She has a rivalry of sorts with Marcus' pokemon Chi, both felines disliking each other and fighting when they get the chance.
Brief History: Nala was Kat's first pokemon and is the daughter of Kat's father's pokemon. Like her parents, Nala is a strong pokemon and is the powerhouse of Kat's team, making good use of brute force.
Appearance: Set of claw marks scarred down her left flank.
Moveset: Flamethrower, Noble Roar, Hyper Voice, Fire Fang, Wild Charge, Crunch
Anything Else: Nala is incredibly proud and will react poorly to insults.
Species: Goodra
Nickname: Darren
Gender: Male
Personality: Darren is a typical example of his species; cheerful and affectionate towards his trainer. He is also extremely protective of her and has been known to work himself up into a fearsome rage if Kat is in danger.
Brief History: Darren was caught by Kat when she visited the Kalos region to train in-between tournaments, intended as a counter for the dragon types that were becoming more and more popular in Kanto where she was contending at the time.
Appearance: Darren is a shiny pokemon, he is white with a pink stomach rather than the usual shades of purple.
Moveset: Dragon Pulse, Muddy Water, Strength, Sludge Wave, Body Slam, Flamethrower.
Anything Else: Darren has the Sap Sipper ability, he resists grass type attacks and draws strength from them.
Species: Espeon
Nickname: Shae
Gender: Female
Personality: Shae is calm and composed, almost never seeming to lose her cool no matter what is thrown at her. However there is one way she can be rattled; Shae has been with Kat since she was very young and will rapidly become distressed of separated from her.
Brief History: Shae's mother was killed in a fight with a wild Persian shortly after Shae was born, but before the Persian could attack the Eevee herself Kat happened upon the scene, chasing it off. She took the young pokemon in and raised her, with Shae eventually growing attached enough that she evolved into an Espeon.
Appearance: Shae wears a small bell attached to a ribbon around her neck. By habit she tends to use her psychic powers to stop the bell from ringing as she moves about.
Moveset: Psychic, Shadow Ball, Swift, Psybeam, Flash, Hidden Power (Ice)
Anything Else: Shae's bell only rings if she's asleep or extremely distracted.
Species: Donphan
Nickname: Trask
Gender: Male
Personality: Trask is, to put it bluntly, rather stupid. He tends to think of little but eating, fighting and other instinctive desires, though doing so seems to leave him living his life rather happily.
Brief History: Like Darren, Trask's life with Kat has been rather uneventful. He was caught as a young Panphy early on in Kat's travels and has been a member of her team ever since, the fighting filled life of a trainer pokemon suiting him perfectly well.
Appearance: His tusks are slightly discoloured with a yellow tinge to them.
Moveset: Horn Attack, Rollout, Earthquake, Giga Impact, Poison Jab, Stone Edge.
Anything Else: Trask is both extremely accurate and inaccurate with his rollouts. He has an almost unnerving ability to his enemies with it, but will almost always crash into something himself afterwards.
Species: Kecleon
Nickname: Dizzy
Gender: Male
Personality: Dizzy is a troublemaker through and through, though his pranks are usually light-hearted. He enjoys annoying people and pokemon equally and will take any opportunity to do so, be it in the middle of a battle or in a quiet moment. Dizzy doesn't really seem to understand the concept of "going too far" and his actions can get unsettlingly dark if he really dislikes someone. He has gone as far as to kill a pokemon in order to get back at a trainer he particularly disliked, though it could never be proved he did it.
Brief History: Kat caught Dizzy when she found him trying to steal food from her bag one night. It took several months for her to get a handle on the Kecleon but eventually she managed to at least turn his pranking efforts away from herself and her other pokemon. While not a particularly strong fighter in brute force, Dizzy uses his invisibility and speed to be a powerful contender in battle.
Appearance: Dizzy's red stripe is particularly thin and he tends to change his main colour about a lot. One of his favourite colours is a tan that matches Kat's jacket.
Moveset: Sucker Punch, Shadow Sneak, Slash, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Flamethrower
Anything Else: Dizzy is very adept at sneaking about invisibly and silently. He has the Protean ability, changing his type to that of whatever move he uses.