#//I always have Whimsicott in a team for him whenever I see those “build a pokemon team for your muse” stuff!!

[hyaciiintho]

*quietly hands link a poke-egg. And a talking manual about whatever pokemon is inside* (muns favorite for him!)

The magicked manual springs to life, displaying an image of the very egg the hero held in his arms.

« Cottonee, the Cotton Puff Pokemon! It shoots cotton from its body to protect itself. If it gets caught up in hurricane-strength winds, it can get sent to the other side of the Earth. »

He has... CONCERNS... and quickly does he hold the egg just a little bit tighter. Y'know. Just in case...

[dreamball-teams]

Hi! I'm the guy who requested rose and cyan a while back! I know it's been a bit but if you still remember what choices you had for their individual teams i'd love to hear about them :]

omg hiiii bestie -twirls my hair around my finger-

nah but fr i had fun with that. i didnt know who those characters were before that moment but you gave me a lot to work with.

espeon and umbreon were my immediate first choices for a lot of reasons. as siblings i wanted them to have pokemon that felt like a “pair”, and given rose was psychic, a psychic-type was the obvious fit. and with dark-type being the “evil” type in japan, umbreon fit easily into cyans clot. as a bonus, shiny umbreon adds blue to its colors. i felt a lil cute.

whimsicott and sinistea added a bit more personality to the rose side, wih their more playful and mischievous nature. every picture i looked at always gave me a “this is a troublemaker” impression. and then for cyan i wanted another really neat fit and then one big destructive powerhouse. blaze breed tauros with its absurdly murder-y pokedex entry fit into the latter, and murkrow was the pick i was very pleased with (fun fact: murkrow is my favorite unevolved pokemon). its given a lot of hype as sinister and carrying bad omens, but come gen 4 and its suddenly a lackey of honchkrow, who is stated to be a pretty harsh boss. murkrow also has an entry about bringing gifts to trainers its bonded with.

see, i really like telling a story where i can with the teams. whenever possible, i try to fit my mind into the idea of “if this character lived in the same world, but pokemon existed, what would suit them? what would they connect with? what would be useful to them?” and then i try to fit a little of everything in there. for my most recent “very pleased with” team, you can check out the cloud strife one. the wiki read was a bit daunting, bt i had a lot of fun imagining each spot in the story where i could build on the team and what it said about him!

[pushspacetocontinue]

Russell’s Pokémon Verse Profile

Because I had meant to get this done sooner. This will be posted on the verses page as well. Brief mention of injury, depression, and abusive relationships below.

Mild spoilers for Pokemon Sword and Shield too (basically, a mention of a Pokemon that is in Galar), so be aware of that.

Name: Russell Tolbert

Age: 24

Birthday: 9th October 1996 (Star sign: Libra) 

Gender: Cis Male (he/him/his pronouns) 

Sexual Orientation: Homosexual.

Species: Human 

Ethnicity: White

Current Residence: No fixed place of residence, nomadic. 

Former Residence: Driftveil City, Unova 

Nationality: Kalo-Unovian (Kalos Father, Unovian Mother). Has found out more about his Kalos Heritage and is trying to get back to those roots. 

Pokémon Team: He always has one Pokémon out at any given time, rotating between members.

Saga the Samurott: His starter. Has the ability Shell Armour. She is pretty much the leader of the team. She was given to him after their gazes met in Professor Juniper’s lab. They felt a connection then and there and have been close since. She has saved a battle on multiple occasions. She’s also the one that gets him across the sea if need be.

Persephone (Perse for short) the Whimsicott. Has the ability Prankster. He met her in Pinwheel Forest after he dropped a Pokéball in her fur and mistook it for something else. She found it funny and started following him around. She eventually evolved from Cottonee before they left Unova. 

Hestia the Volcarona. Has the ability Flame Body. She was given to him when she was still in an egg and he raised her after she hatched. She is incredibly loyal to him and guards him with her life. When she found him being accosted by a group of Scyther, the mix of rage and fear (as well as her level) got her to evolve so she could protect him. She flies him from place to place as well. 

Thor the Amphoros. Has the ability Static. She is an interesting soul. She was originally a Mareep on Floccesy Ranch. However, due to an accidental breeding with the wrong father (her father was supposed to be an Ampharos, instead it was a Bouffalant, don’t ask me how it happened), they were unsure of whether to keep her or not. Russell offered to take her instead, not wanting to see the poor Pokémon practically abandoned. Thor has a very fabulous ‘fro like mane, even when she’s not mega evolved, due to her heritage, as well as a pair of horns (although smaller than that of a regular Bouffalant) that she’s incredibly proud of. She’s a very boisterous bruiser with a softer side.

Misty the Shiny Espurr.  Has the ability Own Tempo. Soon after he came to Kalos and went to Route 6, she started to follow him around for no other reason than apparently liking him. So he allows to do so. She’s sweet and loving, but definitely has a mischievous streak. She likes to stare at people and Pokémon just to creep them out for example. She’s going to evolve soon, and she’s more than ready for it. 

Fafir the Sliggoo. Has the ability Sap Sipper. The newest member that he met in Kalos. He met him as a Goomy on Route 14. He has since evolved into a Sliggoo. Like his trainer, he is quite quiet and reserved, but he’s definitely not a coward. In fact, he challenged Russell to a battle and then allowed himself to be caught when he was beaten. Russell gave him the option to leave, but so far, he has stayed. 

Before he left Unova, he didn’t have Misty and Fafnir. He actually had an Excadrill (Terra) and a Beartic (Amarok). Both of them chose to stay in Unova after he told them he wanted to have the choice and not just go because he told them to. They stayed in Unova and have since joined his niece Gracie’s team. 

During a visit to the Galar region, he rescued a frightened and helpless Snom. He expected it to leave, but it decided it wanted to stay with him. He relented and adopted it as part of the team. It usually rides around in his shoulder bag or on his shoulders. He named it Khione, after the Greek Goddess of Snow.

Mother: Cassandra Anderson - Was no longer in contact with her after he refused to take on the Unovian League and left Unova for other pastures. Because she was wanted to be famous through this, he knew she would never forgive him. She was an awful abusive woman and he and his brothers endured a lot of horrible things at her hands. She was claimed by old age a few months back, dying during the night in her sleep. The family pretty much agreed that no one wanted a funeral and she was given a direct burial four days later. She will not be missed.

Father: Jean-Luc Tolbert. He hails from Kalos. He wanted to desperately be part of Russell’s life, but Cassandra refused to let him. 

Siblings: He has seven older brothers in total. Lewis (now deceased), Martin (still living at their now-dead mother’s house with his Pokémon but planning to move), Truman (living in Hoenn), Simon (lives as a hermit in an apartment of his own, no Pokémon), Bradley (actually living a fairly normal life with his wife, three daughters, his son, and their Pokémon), David (trying to get his life back on track, no Pokémon as yet) and Travis (currently in prison, but has promised to get his shit together once he gets out. Misses his old partner Pokémon.) 

Height: 5'6" 

Weight: Fluctuates between 110 and 115lbs 

Body Type: Thin but athletic. 

Hair: Dirty-blonde., keep in an undercut with volume and fluff at the top. 

Eyes: Blue

Languages: English, Kalos, and Unovian Sign Language (USL). 

Distinguishing features: A water colour tattoo of a Volcarona on his back. A sleeve tattoo of a nebula on his left arm. 

He lost his right arm below the elbow and wears a metal prosthetic that is as close as possible to the old flesh hand he had. He tried to rescue a young child and her group of Pokémon from a very aggressive herd of Scyther. She was left physically unscathed, but his arm got sliced off. Luckily, his Larvesta, Hestia, evolved into Volcarona in the nick of time and saved them both. The girl’s family also happened to be very rich and arranged him to have the new arm as thanks, along with the therapy to learn how to use it and look after it. He often wears gloves and long sleeves, so it’s not completely obvious at first glance.

Part of his right ear is missing, and two of his left fingers (middle and ring) were bitten off above the knuckle due to accidentally angering a Zangoose (which he says was definitely his fault). He also multiple burns on his neck, chest, and upper right arm due to Hestia still learning to control her fire abilities when she was a hatchling. 

He stammers when he tries to talk too quickly, often getting stuck on a syllable or a particular word. It happens when he’s nervous or embarrassed too. He also has a awkward chuckle that comes out whenever he’s particularly uncomfortable about something. He wishes he had an easier time with the bouts of insomnia he gets. However, he has a concern over taking pills for it (or using a Pokémon's help) and so hasn’t tried to yet.

Far-sighted so he wears glasses to read, play games, and other close-up tasks, 

Hobbies and Interests: Parkour and running, reading, space, videogames (he enjoys Nintendo games, owns a 3DS, and a Switch), mythology and the supernatural, steampunk style, vaporwave, and drumming. 

Occupation: No real occupation as yet. Does odd jobs for money, as well as battles. 

Personality: Quiet and rather shy. He’s a bit of a doormat and finds it hard to speak up about a lot of things. But he’s also very kind and helpful whenever he can be, and has a lot of empathy and compassion for other people. 

He has some basic fighting ability (in case he has to deal with dangerous humans) and will fight dirty if he has to, as much as he would rather not. He’s incredibly loyal to any friends he makes as well, willing to put himself them and any danger that might come their way, even at a risk to his own life. He also has a slight temper, particularly when frustrated or when he’s allowed negative feelings to build up inside for too long. He does his best to keep that reined in. 

He has some hope for the future, despite his experiences, and a current battle with depression. He feels that things will look up. He’s trying to remain optimistic.

Basic Backstory: He didn’t have the best childhood due to his mother being the awful woman that she was. She would act manipulative, lock her sons outside as a punishment, become violent, physically, verbally, and emotionally lashing out at them and other horrible things.

He left home at fifteen to start his journey. His Mother was practically ecstatic, mainly for the fact that she was sure that she would have fame and fortune from him doing so, unlike the rest of her ‘failures of sons’. 

He did he was asked, sending her back money and gifts whenever he could. He eventually got eight badges, but then he realised that he was enjoying the journey because it was his journey, and he was travelling with some of the best friends he had ever made, along with meeting some wonderful people. 

He realised he was only getting the badges and planning to join the league because he was told to. While he never saw his brothers as failures for choosing not to do what his mother asked, this only cemented it in further for him. He decided he didn’t want to challenge the league; he wanted to travel, meet new Pokémon and people, and see the world and all its wonders instead.

Sure, there were some mishaps that involved losing one of his arms and two of his fingers (at least partially), he didn’t regret that. However, he also knew that it meant that he wouldn’t be able to go back home.

After one last phone call to his mother, enduring her screaming and shouting at him, and then saying goodbye to two of his Pokémon (who decided to join Gracie without his knowledge after he left), he took the first boat away from Unova, letting the tides take him wherever he wanted. 

He now travels with his new team, seeing where it all takes him, and was inspired to become an aspiring Pokemon photographer. While still new at the trade, he seems to have a knack for it.