Post by Deleted on May 13, 2014 6:41:54 GMT -5
Pokemon Style - Sims Style
[Neutral] - [It's fine, really] - [Why you little--]
{Link to mood-images char creator}
Kalista Sabela VincentName: Kalista Sabela Vincent
Alias: Kali, Kalista Alias, Kalista Erichira, Sable Alias (because sometimes you just don't want to give a name), Kalista Sabela Slade (birth name)
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual [married]
Region: Orre [born], Unknown [Import]
Class: Breeder
Occupation: Battles for money, occasionally works odd jobs or requests, sometimes sells Pokemon either caught or bred.
Rank: None yet, interested in Cipher
APPEARANCE
Description: Standing just a little below average height at 5'3", Kali still comes off as rather small, having a rather lightweight frame overall. Capable of passing for a preteen well into her teen years with a little acting, she has become just slightly too busty to do so quite as effectively as an adult, though she can still pull off a few years younger than she is with some effort. To her dismay, at just a glance people do seem to take her for younger than she is more often than they mistake her for older. Her naturally pale skin tans moderately well, and she tends to keep a healthy color as often as she is outside.
Her light gray hair is limp and not-quite-straight, and falls to about chest level. In short, barring the use of about fifty dollars in styling products, her choices of hairstyle are pretty well limited to pulled back or hanging down, much to her annoyance at times. Her bright eyes are most definitely red. She will proudly tell you how red they are, and if you dare to utter the word "magenta" or anything close to it you will be met with seething. Her face is soft and youthful, her nose slight and mouth fairly medium width, perhaps slightly toward the thinner side. Her lips are full, a bit moreso on bottom than top, and naturally have a somewhat dark pinkish tint. They tend to be scarlet red more often, however, as she wears rather heavy makeup, especially around her eyes. She is unlikely to leave home without copious amounts of mascara, and usually various shades of red for eye shadow, though she does mix up the color from time to time.
Of note, she has a fair-sized scar, roughly the size of her hand, on her back running across the left side of her neck and left shoulder. This is primarily discoloration only, though the skin is gnarled just slightly along either end of the mark. The palm of her left hand is also slightly scarred.
Attire-wise, Kali favors dark and rich colors, with the exception of white and gray. Those along with black and various reds are her favorites. She has a deep, furious vendetta against sleeves, rarely wearing any at all and usually very short sleeves when she does. Although when she finds herself in the bitter cold, she has a love-hate relationship with cozy sweaters. She's not super big on short shorts, but may wear longish shorts, pants, capris, or even some skirts from time to time. At one point, she converted an entire room into her personal walk-in closet, and aims to eventually be able to do so again; in short, Kali is very fond of fashion, though her taste may not always agree with anyone else's. That said, she owns surprisingly few pairs of shoes, and among those usually wears one of two things: a pair of black flip-flops or a pair of black high-top sneakers.
PERSONALITY
Personality:
Kali is very strong-willed, dedicated, and honestly just flat-out stubborn. She will not take no for an answer, and as a result oftentimes doesn't bother asking in the first place. She has been known to pursue a goal long past the point of hopelessness, even when doing so means putting herself in harm's way. Put shortly, she refuses to accept failure, no matter what she has to do to get around it; in the event she truly can't live up to her own expectations, she must find some proof that it is actually physically impossible for anyone or some way to trick herself into believing she actually won and/or came out better in the long run in order to keep from being haunted at night.
Overall, Kali generally comes across as fairly mature, other than fits of stubbornness, being very calm and level-headed in most situations. She retains too much of a bitter grudge to let herself become giddy and excited over much of anything (though there are certain exceptions, especially ones that sparkle), and her anger manifests as more seething and sarcasm with occasional revenge-plotting than outbursts, resulting in the appearance that she just isn't terribly emotional. She's no stranger to heartache or depression, but views crying and other displays as signs of weakness, and as such very rarely shows when she's hurt, bottling it up instead and waiting until she is alone.
She is not, however, immune to outburst-anger when her buttons are pressed enough, or just the right buttons are pressed. Likewise, while she is able to keep her cool more often than not, if the pressure of a situation does become enough to break her, she breaks hard. That is, while Kali generally seems pretty mature, she is still a teenage girl, and anyone spending enough time around her will have no illusions to the contrary.
Ironically, one of the surest ways to get her riled enough to act like a petulant child is to treat her like a child. Perhaps subconsciously because of this, or perhaps just as another irony, she has a terrible tendency toward acting very maternal, whether the object of her attention is friend or foe, 5 or 55. She is extremely controlling, but while she is actively aware and even somewhat proud of her manipulation, she generally doesn't realize when she's exhibiting other behaviors. Really, Kali just doesn't put much emphasis on age in general. She won't generally take a preteen much less seriously than a peer, nor will she respect her elders just for having lived a while, though either of these tends to change a little toward the more extreme ends, as she is still skeptic toward very young or notably immature kids, and it's rare for her to be openly impolite toward someone who's especially old.
It is also worth stating that while she does not excite easily, she does not try to ignore happy things, either. She has a developed if sometimes cruel sense of humor and can at times be rather playful, if generally in a bit of a caustic or coy way. Having a fairly sarcastic nature, she enjoys making smart remarks at random individuals, then indirectly mocking and laughing at them if they didn't pick up on it. More so, she enjoys a battle of wit if they did, this being one of the things that could get her really ecstatic if it goes well enough. (For the record, a 'good' fight is one with a near-equal; winning too easily is fun, but a little disappointing, while being beaten too quickly will leave her very stung.) She could also be described as just a little bit power-hungry, though she is perfectly content simply being close to the real source of power as opposed to actually holding it.
Of course, she does have more conventional pleasures, including her dear husband (if anything about him can be called conventional). Truth be told, she's a bit infatuated with anything romantic in general. She can actually be a terribly flirtatious tease, but it's all talk: an act, if a good one. She also enjoys forming new friendships (not going out of her way to try, but when it happens to occur), and spending time with those friends.
As far as Pokemon are concerned, many trainers would likely see Kali as a little odd. She does care for her Pokemon. She enjoys their company and values their companionship. She respects them and their rights (at least in her opinion), treats them well enough, and dislikes seeing anyone who would blatantly neglect or abuse a Pokemon. However, these things often extend only so far as a farm-owner's opinions of his livestock, excluding only that she certainly wouldn't want to eat a Pokemon. A few short years ago, Kali would have even said that no amount of attachment is enough to distract her from the 'truth' that Pokemon exist for human benefit: for money, labor, etc. These beliefs have come under some question as she has met some surprisingly human Pokemon as well as nearly losing her oldest friend; however, old habits do die very hard. Due to this, her power-love, and her being raised under a Cipher devotee, she is actually very fond of Shadow Pokemon. She does not view it as in any way cruel, but as a means of allowing a Pokemon to tap its true potential. The exception to this was XD001, for Kali believes shadows are strongest when the door to their heart has just only cracked open; when they regain the ability to feel, yet retain the control to ignore those emotions when they would otherwise conflict with their goals.
Likes:
- Succeeding
- Looking and performing her best
- Seafood
- Powerful, pretty, and cute Pokemon
- Rats. Anything to do with rats.
- Shinies. Also the other kind of shinies.
- Sarcasm, banter, plays on words
Dislikes:
- Things she deems ugly, unless they can 'make up for it'
- Cold. Snow. Ice. Also cold.
- Things that make her question or doubt herself.
- Being treated like a child.
- Heels
Ambitions:
All of them. All the ambitions. Kali wants to be the very best like no one ever was, at everything. She wants to beat all the leagues, and all the contests, breed all the Pokemon, own all the Shinies, see all the regions, do all the things. Developing some sort of time machine to make all this possible would also be nice. As it is, she just sort of acts on impulse depending on what she feels like each day or what happens to be conveniently nearby. More specifically, she would love to see Cipher return to power and to do whatever she can in helping with that. She also might like to have kids someday, but she has way too much to do first.
POKEMON
Pokedex Name: Electivire [Shiny]
ALIAS: Stormy
GENDER: Female
ABILITY: Motor Drive
MOVE SET: move | move | move | move
Pokedex Name: Flygon [Shiny]
ALIAS: Kjærlighet
GENDER: Female
ABILITY: Levitate
MOVE SET: move | move | move | move
Pokedex Name: Rattata
ALIAS: Nibbler
GENDER: Male
ABILITY: Guts
MOVE SET: move | move | move | move
Pokedex Name: Arcanine
ALIAS: Pup
GENDER: Male
ABILITY: Flash Fire
MOVE SET: move | move | move | move
Pokedex Name: Weavile
ALIAS: Siavush
GENDER: Male
ABILITY: Pickpocket
MOVE SET: move | move | move | move
Pokedex Name: Lilligant [albino / 'paint spritz']
ALIAS: Magnolia
GENDER: Female
ABILITY: Own Tempo
MOVE SET: move | move | move | move
Pokedex Name: Drilbur
ALIAS: Saharashadi
GENDER: Female
ABILITY: Mold Breaker
MOVE SET: move | move | move | move
Pokedex Name: Poochyena [Shiny]
ALIAS: Auric
GENDER: Male
ABILITY: Rattled
MOVE SET: move | move | move | move
Pokedex Name: Chandelure [albino / 'paint spritz']
ALIAS: Whiteshade
GENDER: Male
ABILITY: Flash Fire
MOVE SET: move | move | move | move
Pokedex Name: Hitmontop
ALIAS: Hitmontwo
GENDER: Male
ABILITY: Intimidate
MOVE SET: move | move | move | move
HISTORY (WIP)
Also known as, "SG doesn't know how to summarize."
History:~Original History, edited slightly~{-Expand/Collapse-}Kali's earliest memories are of an orphanage, without even stories of what her parents may have been like. These memories are fairly few and far between, however, as by the age of 6 she had been adopted by a kind if rather busy young man living in Gateon Port.The son of a powerful if shady businessman, and had followed his father's line of work to find he enjoyed it greatly. Its only parallel, apparently, had been a young woman he had dated for some time in earlier years. He had intended to marry her, even. Kali was never brave- or rude- enough to ask whether she'd died or just left him, but either way she had been removed from his life, and after some time agonizing over it the young man still remained convinced he did not want another woman. What he decided instead, then, was to emulate what he may have had with her later: a family. He had always had a soft spot for small children anyway; thus, to fill his void, he adopted little Kali, and while she was not the miracle cure he'd hoped for, he came to care for her deeply still in her own right.Unfortunately, his work was still his main priority, and Kali was often left with the 'nanny' he had hired for her while he was away. Some years later, she was also given an Elekid for company and protection. Despite never being all that lonely, per se, being left by Daddy often depressed and even angered Kali as a small child. She enjoyed her time with him, and it made her upset that he didn't seem to want to spend more with her! As years passed, her mood swings and outbursts grew worse, until finally one day her sitter snapped. She scolded the child harshly for her selfishness and brash assumptions.Her own husband being an employee of the same company, she was quite the fan of their research, and explained in quite a glamorous light just how important the work they were doing really was, as well as the fact that he had other family- BLOOD family- with whom work was his strongest common bond. He had always been more theirs than hers, and she shouldn't be so self-centered as to want it otherwise.Little Kali had never known such guilt, and began to work hard on suppressing her fits whenever she'd feel the urge to have them. She also became more interested in her Daddy's work, both due to the old woman's words and simply becoming older. She started asking him about his research during their outings or over what dinners they spent together, and found he enjoyed talking about it as much as she came to enjoy hearing, though there were certain aspects he always seemed to dance around.Over the next few months, these became more and more common, until suddenly he did not feel like talking about work at all to her anymore. This made her suspicious, even scared: what could he be hiding? Then one day, while snooping in his personal off-limits quarters looking for answers, she found one, in the form of a Rattata that attacked her on sight. Fortunately, Daddy was near and heard her screams, and he was able to save her, though his method of doing so shocked and confused her: he simply recalled the Rattata.Kali did not escape without a good deal of injury, though fortunately only one bite on her back was severe enough to leave a scar; the rest of the nips and scratches fully healed within a few weeks or less. Following initial treatment of her wounds, Daddy explained at last what he'd been avoiding for so long, figuring it was a greater risk to continue keeping the secret any longer than it was to tell her at this point. The company he and his relatives worked for, which had taken up the name Cipher, had developed a means of closing off a Pokemon's heart in order to bring out its true fighting spirit. They called these altered Pokemon "Shadows", and they must be treated with caution, as they would attack even humans with minimal provocation.The full picture he painted was both terrifying and exhilarating, and when he was done Kali found she could not fear the idea past a strong caution and respect. Of course, coming from the mouth of a Cipher executive had likely done little to discourage that view. Relieved his "daughter" understood his family's dream, the man was able to return to work in full confidence, and their discussions about it returned to normal.Soon, Cipher's Shadows would become widespread, though this would not last long. An employee of Cipher's child company Snag'em, a troublesome young man named Wes, eventually came to betray the company, and temporarily stopped Cipher's progression. The dread Kali saw in her father that day terrified her, her only relief being that he himself had not been captured. Fortunately, it turned out that Cipher had actually only gone into hiding, continuing an even greater research in secret. This revitalized him, and made him all the more dedicated to the cause, determined not to let anything interfere the next time.Some five years later, Cipher was reborn in full, with a technology that this time frightened even Kali. They had found a way to prevent a Shadow from being purified. Personally, Kali had always thought her "father's" Pokemon seemed strongest after just a little training since their last Shadowfication- that is, when the door to their heart was just barely cracked and then only starting to open. While she did and does like Shadows, she is still not as fond of the freshest ones as those that have been "broken in" just a bit. Naturally, it is necessary to keep reapplying the Shadow condition, lest the door open TOO wide, but to keep it from ever opening at all? Despite this, however, she remained supportive of Cipher and its work, believing they must have known what they were doing.Unfortunately, as before, their plans were soon thwarted- this time by a mere child! A child with friends in high places, perhaps, but that was not what the peons noticed when they were being defeated by a pre-pubescent brat... Eventually, even the leaders were defeated, causing Cipher to crumble. While managing to use connections to avoid more than the most minimal jail time, the fall of the company broke her Daddy in ways Kali couldn't even fathom, especially once his blood family all dispersed and disappeared as well.At first, she tried to give him space, and hoped that in time he would gradually pull out of it. When months passed without change, she began trying to help him directly, but all efforts proved futile. Without the income of Cipher, their funds also began gradually withering. Their life was falling apart around them, and even that could not break him of his depression! And whose fault was it?Those self-righteous bastards who couldn't understand their work, that's whose! Well, Kali vowed she would see them succeed yet, and PROVE to those doubters their ideals WERE for the best! Of course, at the time, she was still too young to do anything. Given a little time to grow up, though, and Kali was finally ready to live up to her promise.On her sixteenth birthday, Kali abruptly left, unsure if her father even heard her curt goodbye. She wandered Orre for months with limited success, taking with her Stormy, the Electabuzz she had grown up with. With Storm's help, she was also able to er... "obtain" two new Pokemon for her team, as well as evolve her eventually. Unfortunately, with the back-to-back events in the past, few in Orre were willing to think of anything close to Cipher. Frustrated, Kali seemed to have hit a dead end, until one day a bizzare man with a painful taste in (loudly blaring) music approached her asking if she'd seen a certain individual, whose description- a bit similar to his own in retrospect- she thought she may recognize as a former higher-up of Cipher. Discovering each other to be an ally, they began to talk a bit. Unfortunately, she didn't know much about his missing man, but as it turned out he was quite able to help her! While their conversation was kept brief and many things were only implied as to not attract eavesdroppers, he reminded her Orre was not the ONLY place to have developed Shadows.In fact, Kali hadn't thought of that possibility at all. Thinking back, she realized she may have heard of the northern region's involvement once or twice at most in passing, if at all; apparently some rather minor facilities had been located so remotely for security reasons, and a scant few Shadows had been integrated into its economy, or something, according to her new friend. That was the lead she needed, though. Looking into things briefly as she prepared to leave, she discovered the country had recently experienced a coup, and was currently in a time of lawless turmoil.It was perfect.Taking her Pokemon as her only companions, and limited supplies, Kali trekked north across the desert, ready to seek out any remnants of its Shadow program and aid its revival regardless whatever obstacles she may face.
~Old RP-developed history, including some planned but never seen fully through~
(TL;DR - Blah blah shadows blah blah romantic fluff
blah blah Pokemon blah blah romantic drama blah blah.){-Expand/Collapse-}After weeks in the desert with little sign of civilization, a feat which in itself Kali may not have survived without her Pokemon, she at last came across a large building which reminded her of the colosseums back home, if perhaps grander than most despite being ancient. In these ruins, she would have multiple life-changing encounters.
First of all, just as she entered, she encountered a strange man. He had a certain 'creeper' quality to him, and generally just came off as very shady, but whether through fate or good fortune she did manage to learn-- just barely-- he had some connection to the Shadow project. Each suspicious of the other, they agreed on a trade- a game, as Kali thought of it. He got a question, then she got a question; of course, each answered in evasive half-truths, but this amused her greatly. Through this game, she learned that "Men call me Yue. Women call me Leon. And those in between call me Alias," and that he was trying to restore an abandoned Shadow lab here.
Naturally, Kali's immediate reaction to the latter was to throw herself on all fours and literally beg him to let her help. This was met with a firm no, followed by a long argument, which was eventually settled by Kali deciding that he could either choose to direct her actions, or have her following him anyway and having to figure out for herself what to do. Faced with this ultimatum, he offered one of his own: either she follow his every order to the letter, or he'd lock her away for the rest of her life. "So either way I'm your eternal slave? ... Sounds hot~" Shockingly, coming from a girl just over half his age, Leon found this less than appealing. At any rate, the deal was struck.
As they went to shake on it, Kali suddenly noticed his bloody hand (unbeknownst to her, caused by his own fingernails from tense moments in their earlier exchanges), immediately insisting they bandage it immediately. Although he protested, he did not technically order her to stop. Thus began a long-standing trend of a 16-yr-old apprentice mothering her 30-yr-old master to death.
Once treated, they began to search for Pokemon together, this having been his initial reason for being there. Before long, they stumbled onto something of a hoard, with four Hitmontop taking turns performing for each other. Neither having a special regard for "fairness", they outnumbered the group, seeing no reason to decline an opportunity for such rare Pokemon, prompting a Scizor who cared rather more about numbers to come even the odds. Leon seemed to 'claim' him, which was fine by Kali.
As the battle raged on, though, a sixth Pokemon joined the fray: an entirely ordinary little Rattata. Outraged by the noise, he showed no hesitation in throwing rocks at the larger, evolved Pokemon. For Kali, it was love at first sight. As an errant electric attack from Leon's end went his way, Kali ordered her Electire Stormy to intercept it, then all but abandoned the battle, lazily calling a few commands amidst talking to the Rattata. She offered to help him grow strength to match his bravery, an offer he found rather appealing. Nibbler was captured without a fight, and never left Kali's side again save briefly around their home. Any time Kali left, she took Pokemon with her; and if Pokemon were with her, she had Nibbler.
As for the rest of the fight, Leon would capture his three opponents, and Kali would capture the remaining two Hitmontop: creatively named Hitmonone and Hitmontwo. For all their potential, the duo ended up serving as housekeepers around the lab, rarely if ever battling, but they seemed to grow to like their new roles a good deal, and Kali loved having them.
The lab was in disarray upon her arrival, but that was all right. It was progress, and she settled in well enough. A far more difficult adjustment was getting used to this region. She'd heard it had still run on a monarchy until the recent coup, but she had never expected so many "nobles" still in power and vying for the crown, even if none seemed to be making particular progress. In the chaos, every other city seemed to rival Pyrite in terms of gang activity (though given Kali had never lived in Pyrite, this may not have been the most accurate comparison), and all over rebel groups looked to dismantle the rest of the government, whether to impose another or in aims of anarchy seeming to vary. Not all the changes were bad, mind you. Wild Pokemon were hard to come by in Orre, but here, especially as the desert at the southern edge faded, the climate and terrain were rather more diverse, and Pokemon of great varieties flourished- although in all the years she lived here, she oddly never encountered a Kalosian-native Pokemon.
Kali soon heard that the duchess in the south was a staunch supporter of Leon's work, and actively financed most of their endeavors in secret. This was wonderful~ .... Then she requested their presence at a noble event in the north. This was less wonderful. As much as Kali may or may not have grown up with a princess-themed bedroom that may or may not have retained much of that motif until she left home just months prior, she still knew nothing about blending in with actual stuffy bluebloods.
Leon assured her she would be fine, but did insist she look the proper part, taking her shopping to ensure she got everything she needed. The day started off awkward enough, but would only continue to grow moreso. For all that she loved to playfully flirt, it seemed that some part of being a condescending bitch was actually something of a turn-off; who knew? So having him fuss over her, even if only a little and for such logical reasons, was rather more attention than she was actually used to. Wait was she blushing? No of course not, how ridiculous. And then.. he took her to lunch, which she suddenly realized she'd never done with anyone but her Daddy, and-- oh fuck off, Leon, it was not because she was "too young". Then watching him eat- wow, no. No she.. she had to go wait outside, ew. Though it was pretty amusing how much he loved sweets-no it absolutely was not. (Though wow, he hadn't eaten in HOW long..? ..Kali decided at that moment she was learning to cook and making sure he ate properly from now on.) Oh gosh was he on a sugar rush now? Oh she was taunting him for this for eternity.
By the end of the day, Kali just......... Well... Shit. .. Maybe she could just ignore it.
They went their separate ways for the next few hours and agreed to meet at the Duke's gala that night. Kali was determined to impress him when she showed, absolutely only to get him to think of her as an adult, of course. Yes. That is also the reason she stuffed an extra cup size or two. To prove she was an adult. Don't question the logic. At any rate, where else was she supposed to store her PokeBalls? And even in their compact state, they'd stand out too much alone, so it only stood to reason to pad the area around each and make everything uniform right? Right. Totally logical.
(SG did a thing for this; it is partially traced (mostly in the skirt), partially referenced, pretty sure the mask was copy-pasted, and partially original. It gets the point across though. x3)
Of course, she supposed it couldn't hurt to indulge a little fantasy. You know. Just for fun and all. Thus, when she spotted him in the crowd, she approached from behind and made her presence known by mustering her sultriest tone: "Hey there, sexy~ Your place or mine?" ... The joke was they lived in the same place.
For a mere fraction of a second, his eyes went wide as he saw her, then he moved seamlessly into his usual indifference, warning her such behavior could get her in trouble here, leading to a little typical banter. Still, for a man who tended to be stoic or enraged in the rare times a fake smile wasn't plastered on his face, even that brief reaction held some significance; he also admitted she 'cleaned up nicely', and Kali decided to take what she could get.
She was then introduced to their patron Duchess, who may or may not have made Kali feel inferior as both a woman and as a manipulative bitch. She found herself worrying rather more than she wanted to about just what sort of relationship her master had with this 'patron'. Everything was awful; even her feet hurt. This tension was both broken and made worse when a boy offered Kali a dance, claiming her 'parents' seemed occupied with each other. Between Kali and the Duchess it was difficult to say who was more appalled- especially given that wasn't the first time today someone had made that mistake of Kali and Leon. As the duchess stormed off, Kali bluffed that she already had a date. She had somewhat hoped Leon would step up and claim that spot, if only to get the stranger to leave. In a 'careful what you wish for' moment, he did- telling the boy "Daddy" was her date tonight. Kali could have punched him.
...Except he then did offer her a dance, and that was okay, right? Yes. That would do. She'd soon realize the dance had been in part to subtly move closer to the northern Duke's Dragonite, which had been standing at attention for some time, but it was still a dance all the same. It was really very lovely except these heels how did women survive in these things.
Things were going well, right up until said Dragonite spotted some trainer's errant Pokemon and promptly took it as an excuse to go into fricking Hyper Mode. Well that answered any questions as to whether it was a Shadow; how irresponsible was this Duke?
The Shadow scientist and his apprentice ducked off so as to be able to blend with the frightened portion of the crowd while avoiding calling tension to themselves, and a battle erupted. Eventually, the dragon was calmed, and many apologies were given. Kali's recollection of the night after that grows a little fuzzy. She feels like it was maybe passed off as a stunt to spice up the night? Or.. maybe the story had been that the Duke allegedly had no idea his Pokemon was Shadowed? Accounts from others who were there seem to vary, and Kali has never been certain which to believe, given..
The rest of the night was not a picnic. At some point or other, Leon pissed her off; she can't even remember how now. She remembers that they never finished their dance, that she stormed off at some point, and that she decided since she was obviously so totally grown up and trying to fit in with the fancy nobles doing fancy noble things, there was no reason she shouldn't have some fancy noble wine. The only thing she remembers past that is finally snapping at the pain her heels were causing her feet and throwing one of them square into some unsuspecting nobleman's face. When she woke up the next morning back in the lab, apparently dragged home, she did have both her shoes again, but to this day she's decided she doesn't even want to know the rest of the details there. Kali doesn't drink much anymore.
Whatever the case, she was quite sure she had embarrassed him, yet he did not call much attention to it, though she'd half expected to be kicked out. For this, she could scarcely express her gratitude, but she certainly intended to try. For several weeks, she worked on setting up a surprise.
One of her primary duties when she wasn't out catching Pokemon, even if much of it fell to Hitmonone and Hitmontwo under her instructions, was cleaning up the ruined areas of the lab. The lab had a scant few sleeping quarters with barest accomodations, a "kitchen" that was more of a very lackluster break room, and a lot of rooms filled with machines, machine parts, and trash. In the worst wings, some wild Pokemon even roamed. (Fine by Kali, so long as she could keep them out of the important places; she even caught her now-Arcanine there.)
So when Kali had first come to the lab, she had resolved that just because it was a workplace didn't mean it couldn't also be a suitable home. Thus, she had found a suitable room- one of decent size, decent proximity to their rooms and the break room, and housing nothing of importance- and poured her first month's wages into furnishing it as a den. She'd managed to carpet it, have the Hitmons drag the old couch from the break room (and replace it with a proper table and chairs), and somehow acquired a loveseat to somewhat match, as well as a table, bookshelves, and some fake plants. Nothing fancy, but it was.. home-y. Of course, this was only half the surprise; one would have thought it would be difficult to keep him from noticing until she was done, but as absorbed as he stayed in his work, not so much.
When Kali went to get him, however, she got a surprise of her own. In the month she'd known him, Leon's left eye had always been covered, usually by both hair and bandages; she never thought to bother asking, assuming some recent, temporary injury. Upon barging into his room, however, she caught him tending an empty socket. Again, she could not apologize enough- so she barely tried, just excusing herself and waiting in shame. Fortunately, the incident was quickly brushed aside, though it left her with a greater curiosity toward just what he'd been through, as well as a much greater respect for knocking on doors.
Upon finally showing him her work, Leon was.. certainly surprised. And he didn't seem to disapprove, though that was about all that could be said for the reaction. She'd take it. She urged him to sit down and relax a moment ("that's what it's for, after all") as she fetched the other half of his surprise.
Hesitant, he complied, only for her to bring out... a Slowpoke? She insisted he needed one. "Um.. ... Why?" Promptly, she took the end of the Slowpoke's tail and shoved it in her master's mouth. To this day Kali acknowledges this as one of the strangest-seeming things she ever did, but she had good reason. So long as he took care of the Pokemon, it should be an eternal aid to satisfying his sweet tooth.
The sincere thank you she received for this would have been a bit of a shock in its own right, but the light kiss on her cheek which accompanied it all but shut down the poor girl, and also eternally ruined all chances of 'so let's just pretend that crush doesn't exist'. After some 30 seconds of being unable to react at all, Kali's mind finally turned to 'run and hide'.. before realizing there was an 80 pound pink hippo in her lap. At last, she managed a simple 'you're welcome', and they devolved into a very light conversation about sweets and Slowpoke, Leon's bits all said with his mouth half-full, of course.
Soon, she realized he was beginning to nod off, and urged him to lie down. He protested right up until he fell asleep still sitting. Upon noticing, Kali recalled his new Slowpoke and had Hitmontwo fetch a blanket while she shifted him to a more comfortable position. Once he was lying down and covered, Kali couldn't resist, leaning down and kissing his forehead. (And this, kids, is why you always wear high-quality lipstick that doesn't leave stains. :'D)
This night would mark them becoming rather more comfortable with each other, further cemented the following morning when, after his sleeping for nearly half a day straight, Kali made him a proper breakfast for the first time and got him to talk a bit about his own apprenticeship back in Cipher. At the very least, she would say they had gone from being co-workers to being friends.
In time, they would take on another co-worker: a woman named Jasmine. Kali might have been jealous (well, more jealous), but overall she was pretty okay. After all, Jasmine was Leon's employee; Kali was his apprentice. This was a thing because she told herself so. And Kali was already warming up to him, where this newcomer was starting from scratch. Not a problem. She'd never like the woman, but she wasn't a problem.
Some time later, he would "pay her back" for the Slowpoke, despite the fact that the Slowpoke had been to pay him back for-- gift horse in the mouth. She wasn't complaining. Except that his gift to her was, in her opinion, much more extravagant: a Shiny Flygon. His own most favored Pokemon was his own (normal) Flygon, Faya- a moody bitch who never liked Kali and whom she never liked back. But flying on her was a very efficient means of travel, and Leon thought Kali should be able to keep up.
This was the absolute best time to mention Kali was afraid of heights. This was also a great time to note that Kali was stubborn as shit. How does one get a new Pokemon to allow one on its back? Why, keep climbing back on until one stops getting thrown, of course! Ignoring minor injuries sustained from that alone, their flight was just short of traumatizing for the poor girl- who absolutely insisted she'd get used to it. This was his first true gift to her, after all, and she was not letting it go to waste- nor was she giving up the opportunity to impress him by overcoming her personal hurdles. Kali is still rather uncomfortable in high places, but would eventually become much, much more comfortable on a dragon's back than, say, on a high balcony or rooftop.
Incidentally, this first flight had been to the nearest city to pick up a part for one of the machines, which Leon hoped would be the last they needed to start the Shadow process if only for a single Pokemon at a time, but something perhaps even more significant awaited. In walking the streets. Leon caught a glimpse of a particular man who caused him to bolt on sight. Literally dragged along in the rush, Kali followed in utter confusion, as well as some real terror at what could possibly make her ever-so-collected master this frantic. Her curiosity would hardly be sated even after the man caught up to them.
He seemed a fair deal older than Leon, perhaps in his 40's, and it seemed they'd known each other for a long time. Nathan, as Leon spat his name, also seemed to know Leon's real name, although he did not speak it directly. Allegedly, he wanted 'information', but just asking questions wasn't good enough for him. Kali didn't get to find out much more, as Leon quickly bolted again and this time narrowly escaped pursuit.
As they left the city's borders, Kali began to question this- noting that she hoped he knew he could tell her anything. ...After all, he was the best friend she had. Given Kali's history with people, there wasn't a high bar there, but bar or no he did not particularly react well. Kali mentally punched herself. She then decided he probably needed some time alone, and insisted that he head back while she finished some shopping. Leon was adamantly against this, for all that Kali insisted she could take care of herself. He ordered her to come home, reminding her of their agreement if she disobeyed him. Reluctant and outraged, Kali only just complied.
Once home, her persistence at attempting to understand and comfort him devolved into a screaming match- even on his part, if somewhat worse on hers. Kali was infuriated; he acted more immature than she did, then had the nerve to play her age against her. She did everything she possibly could on his behalf, and the only times she ever fought him were when she was looking out for his well being, because he sure as hell wasn't going to. He, on the other hand, very firmly did not want to discuss anything even vaguely relating to the issue and was growing increasingly irritated at everything she said; furthermore, although he wouldn't say so, he was terribly worried for her safety, and therefore all the more wished she would just do what he said. Eventually, he walked away, slammed a door, and with the room lacking a lock held the knob in hopes she would go away. Kali tried and failed to overpower his hold, then collapsed crying, then grew angry again. In that fit of anger, she released her Growlithe to heat the doorknob until he let go, then recklessly grabbed the hotter side herself, rather badly burning her hand in the process. All this just to be able to properly slap him in the face with her good hand as she made sure he knew "I HATE YOU."
She'd rushed out of the lab after that, hopping back on Kjærlighet. After some time going wherever the Flygon wished, just holding on for dear life and bawling, she'd finally calmed enough to decide she may as well finish her errands as intended. Retaining just enough respect for his wishes, and also because the Capital did have the best market in the country, Kali went there rather than back to the place they'd encountered Nathan-
Though it didn't make a difference. Upon finishing her shoppings, she sought ways to kill time to avoid returning home just yet, and found herself face to face with Nathan and his Gardevoir anyway- Leon having mentioned the same Pokemon in his protests before, if only briefly. Curiosity and frozen-fear winning out of flight-fear, Kali decided she could always hear him out a moment and then run.. Nathan assured her he only wanted to ask her a few questions. In exchange, he offered her information on the man calling himself Yue Leon Alias.
Kali declined, for the most part, although he made it quite clear he was getting the information he wanted one way or another. That much she accepted, but she informed him that most things she would rather hear from Leon himself; she'd rather have his trust than immediate answers. Instead, she asked Nathan buy her dinner.. and answer only exactly what she asked of him, with nothing extra. To this he agreed. Oh, and by 'buy her dinner', she meant 'take her out and treat her like a princess'. His being clearly 40-ish should have made that sentiment awkward enough, but it would be some time before she'd realize just how much.
Nathan assured her they had a table ready and a lovely restaurant down the street; upon hearing this, Amina the Gardevoir teleported away to ensure it would be so. When they arrived, she was also there to get the door. Getting the feeling he would be rather lost without her, Kali suddenly felt something of a kinship with this Pokemon uncharacteristic of her usual feelings towards them.
The three of them had a lovely dinner, wherein Nathan seemed to be building a profile of sorts on Kali. He asked about her past, her connection to Cipher, how she'd gotten Leon to accept her, what she planned to do in the future. He said he was a seeker of knowledge; what he did with this, she didn't know or care, not seeing how anything she gave could be of particular consequence- or at least no more risk than she'd always be at in her line of work.
For her end, she asked Leon's age, finding he was in fact 30 (a bit older than she'd been guessing). Then, ah... "He isn't gay, is he?" It was meant more as a joke than anything, but Kali nearly died when he answered, "Only for me." She couldn't tell if he was joking, and in her mind that explained everything. He seemed rather amused by this, until a Psychic'd spoon to the back of the head from a very angry Gardevoir prompted him to admit he was only teasing. Upon noting she seemed deeply interested in their white-haired friend, Kali grew silent for some time.
When prompted for further questions, she had more or less given up, and sarcastically spat, "I don't suppose you know his taste in women." In fact, Nathan told her, Leon lacked taste as he was entirely disinterested in such things. He'd grown up with the mentality that romance would only get in the way of his work, and retained that to this day.
This thought... both depressed and elated Kali. On the one hand, she felt bad for him. And she realized her chances had plummeted. On the other hand, she realized that she had the opportunity to be his very first relationship- alongside finally admitting in full to herself that she was, indeed, pursuing a relationship. And as with becoming his apprentice, as with stupid arguments, she never gave up. ...And she was supposed to be mad at him. :T Welp.
As her final question, she asked, without revealing too much, just who Nathan was to Leon. The first answer she received was "Satan". Elaborations seemed to indicate some sort of friendship as well, but she couldn't seem to get anything straight enough to make sense of it without veering into other territories. Accepting this for now, they said their goodbyes. She had just a liiiittle more shopping to do, after all.
Kali snuck in that evening with a new surprise: a small toaster oven. For all her caution sneaking around and fending off one extremely hyperactive and destructive Riolu- Yue's, no less, and what she was doing wandering unsupervised Kali would never know- Kali managed to bake a homemade cake.. though not quite soon enough, Yue walking in a few minutes before it was ready to come out of the oven. Meekly, she apologized, horrorstruck when he asked for what. Everything; she could never hate him.
To her great surprise, he closed the gap and pulled her into a hug. He'd just been worried for her. In this moment, Kali tried to stay light and playful, but couldn't deny how much she was enjoying it. Upon showing him the cake, his first reaction was to ask if it was poisoned. "..No, you great idiot. ... Though if I'd thought of that sooner..." Her laughter didn't last long.
" 'Great idiot', is it? I love you, too, then."
Kali was crushed by the light, joking tone of those words. But she kept her smile, did her best to continue to tease him. It seemed his demeanor was rubbing off on her... His kissing her forehead not long after did nothing to help the mixed signals.
The rest of the night was spent with a mixture of heart-felt talks (including disclosing most of the details of her talk with Nathan), playful affections back and forth if a bit more heavily from Kali, and an accidental breakthrough in a particular problem their Shadow work had been facing. At the end of it all, she even managed to force him to get some sleep. They had a big day tomorrow, after all. The product of their efforts was finally coming to fruition.
Or... not, as Leon would be plagued by a nightmare that night of failing miserably and facing Ein's wrath and disappointment. In the middle of the night, he rose to begin checking all the machines until Kali's night patrol caught sight of him and woke her as well. Drunk on exhaustion, she was not her most coherrent or persuasive, and at times was uncertain whether she had absolute or zero willpower, but she did her best to find out what was wrong with him. Although he never answered, he was terribly concerned about the machines and at one point adamantly declared he would not fail. When he mentioned coffee, she countered he would be less likely to fail if properly rested, then led him to the den rather than his room. She hoped her presence might help calm him, as well as it being easier to keep an eye on him. As he lay down, tiredness again overcame him as well, and he pulled her onto the couch beside him. Surprised but not about to protest, Kali happily complied; both were asleep in minutes.
The following morning when they awoke, Kali learned that not only could Leon cook, but he was better at it than her. Welp. Jasmine would join them for this breakfast as well, at which Leon would explain that he was going to be going over each and every machine with a fine-tooth comb before trying to run them-- just in case-- and that Kali and Jasmine should focus on ensuring they had plenty of Shadow Fodder. Another delay, then, but better safe than sorry.
So for a few months, that was what they did. Kali caught hoards of Pokemon, and bought a good number more. Among those purchased, she lucked across what appeared to be, and what Leon would later confirm as, a Shadow Wailmer- seemingly a seldom-used or oft-abused remnant of past Cipher activity, as the Duke's Dragonite had been.
At one point while using this Wailmer, a particular young man named Kaito took special interest in it, recognizing the signs of its behavior. Impressed, he offered to buy her a drink while they talked. Once certain she was aware of what she had and more proud than afraid of it, he was all too willing to reveal he'd once worked within Cipher himself, and Kali began to question him to confirm this and get a feel for his intentions. Deciding he seemed an interesting asset- and that it might be nice to have another lab assistant who was at least pleasant to look at, though he already seemed more pleasant to talk to than Jasmine as well- she agreed to relay this to her master and arrange a meeting. Kaito, however, had other plans, tailing her back to the lab, much to Kali's dismay. ...Well, she'd roll with it- at least make sure he stayed close so as not to ruin or run off with anything.
Unbeknownst to Kali, not long before on the same day, another young woman had found her way to the lab, apparently under Nathan and Amina's directions. She called herself Vengeance of all things; and Kali had thought Alias was bad. So while Kali was keeping tabs on Kaito and looking for Leon, Leon had just finished dealing with Ven, accepting her as his latest employee.
Unfortunately, he found them before she found him, and at first glance it appeared very much as though Kali was sneaking around having brought a boy home.. Fortunately, Kaito managed to explain the situation better than the tongue-tied girl. The three talked briefly, but just when everything seemed pretty settled in regards to accepting Kaito as well, a loud screech drew their attention.
Elsewhere in the lab, Ven had run into another 'friend' of Leon's: a smuggler- and.. maybe serial killer? Kali was always entirely too terrified to ask for confirmation on that, preferring to tell herself those were only rumors, although up until tonight she'd always thought of him only as 'that annoying guy who sometimes breaks in for fun'- who her master sometimes worked with named Black Jack Spade. Despite the trend around the lab, only one of those was actually a nickname.
As they approached, Kali froze, never having felt such terror in her life. He had a gun. She wielded creatures capable of bending nature and fitting in her pocket, but that did not compare to a gun. When Leon calmly reminded him such things were not to be in his lab, Jack turned the weapon on himself. As Kali would later learn, it was a realistic-looking toy, complete with a little flag reading "bang". She would need to be told this later because at the mere thought, when the trigger clicked, she fainted. In the time she was out, though, it seemed that Jack had been kicked out again and Kaito was indeed accepted. Leon now had four assistants; the lab's awkward 'family' was growing.
That hellish day done and gone, and things began to settle down. Months passed again. At some point, Kali had begun dabbling in breeding, though with the aid of a licensed breeder; and at a more recent point, she and Leon had decided to breed his Chansey with her Pikachu. However, upon finishing their errands in the capital and checking on the pair, there were no eggs. Apparently, the particular Pokemon just didn't seem to... 'get it'. His Chansey was so innocent and her Pikachu so aloof she supposed it wasn't a huge surprise...Several awkward attempts were made at explanations before Kali had a wonderful, awful idea. Clearly, they just needed romance~ The rest was bound to come naturally with that in play, right?
So where would Pokemon go on a date? ...Well, where would anyone go? Kali concluded that the easiest thing would be to show them, right? To make it a double date. It wasn't as though they'd leave their Pokemon to wander alone anyway, right?
They kept things simple to start with a nice trip to the park, wherein the Pokemon played on the playground. Or Chansey did; Pikachu was rather less sure what he was doing. Eventually, though, she managed to get him playing, while their trainers headed toward the swings. Then they decided to head somewhere with a view, with Kali having the bright idea to sneak onto a roof. The Pokemon were recalled just long enough to climb and released again. From there, much time was spent in 'girl talk' and 'boy talk' as they split to attempt to encourage each other's Pokemon. The language barrier did not help this, but the idea got across.
When the sun began to set, the Pikachu, still unsure of himself but with just enough confidence to try, asked the Chansey to watch it with him. In turn, Kali asked the same of her master.
OOC INFORMATIONDirectory Info: [size=3][b]ESSGEE[/b][/size]
[url=link to accepted application will be added by staff][b]Kali Vincent[/b][/url]
Face claim: none
Continuity: Import
Other Characters: N Harmonia
Role play Sample: If this is your first character, an import, or a canon character, you are required to give us a short RP sample. Import and canon RP samples must be a post using the character you're applying for.