unovasrose

[unovasrose]

A small gift box arrives for Rosa, and it may seem like a bit of an odd one. Contained within the gift box are… a set of origami crafts? A yellow crane, an off-white rabbit, and a pink rose with a red ribbon tied to it. The work on the crafts is not completely like it was done on first try, but less than perfect folds reveals that the sender evidently didn't have a ton of experience with making such things.

'I'm not very good at sending gifts. But a friend taught me how to do this, and I thought I would share it with you. I wanted to practice, and your name reminds me of pink roses. So I did my best, I hope it's okay, and I hope you had a good holiday season.'

The origami crafts are adorable, and it's clear the sender put in a lot of effort. Rosa has always been fond of handmade and personalized gifts, so this makes her incredibly happy.

"Thank you, Secret Santa!" Not that they can hear her, but she still wants to express it. "I already know where I'm gonna put these."

The floating shelves in her bedroom already hold some of her most treasured knickknacks; nothing like adding a few more to her collection.

[unovasrose]

(please imagine this is set after the crasher wake incident but before blanc gets back sjdjsj)

Up until this point Svern had been mostly sticking close by Blanc – for a few reasons, largely it being the hero of ideals' birthday and thus not wanting to leave him feeling stranded or disoriented in the midst of all these people and all this sparkle. He'd spotted Rosa at some point and made a mental note to go and say hello later, though he hadn't intended for 'later' to mean in Blanc's absence after a rather unfortunate mishap.

"I'm going to have to personally thank Delta later," he said, without elaborating further as to why. "Anyway, good to see you! That's a lovely dress."

Rosa brightens at the sight of the notorious Mochi Guy, as she likes to refer to him in her mind. It's only thanks to Blanc that she happens to know his real name.

"Thank you, Svern! It's good to see you too!" She adjusts the skirt of her dreamy pink gown, mainly so she doesn't trip on it. Gods know it wouldn't be the first time tonight...

"You look fantastic! I love how your outfit perfectly matches Blanc's." Even amidst all the glam and glitz, they stand out. Speaking of Blanc and Delta, though...

She laughs nervously. "I should actually check on where she took Crasher Wake." The chances are pretty high that Delta just dumped him in a snowbank somewhere for being obnoxious. "I hope Blanc will be okay. That was so uncalled for."

[unovasrose]

it's been a hot minute since I last actually wrote Rosa so it's been a lot of going back to refresh myself on my own lore asdfhgfdj

[unovasrose]

I though this was super interesting but when I first visited Celestial Tower during the roselocke two years ago, Rosa did not have a single pokémon encounter until she made it to the last floor of the tower and, when she did, it was an Elgyem. On the way back down, she only had two more pokémon encounters and they were also both Elgyem. Not a single Litwick in sight, even though it has a higher appearance rate than Elgyem.

Rosa’s Krokorok, Rocco (who evolved into Krookodile on the way back down the tower) was her lead pokémon the entire time so I like to headcanon that he kept all the Litwick at bay while they traversed the tower.

[unovasrose]

Also, to clarify, I’m perfectly fine with and have written interactions during which Rosa comes into contact with ghost-type pokémon; they’re part of the pokéworld, it’s unreasonable to think she’d be able to avoid them entirely. Hell, she climbs to the top of Celestial Tower every year to ring the bell in memory of her fallen Musharna, she has a romantic partner that trains a Chandelure, AND one of her Elites is a ghost-type specialist. She deals with them on a case-by-case basis. 

Ghost-types that are less “spectral” (aka actual ghost/phantom-looking) she will be uneasy around but they won’t garner the same response as pokémon like Cofagrigus or Banette (with Spiritomb being the worst by far). In general, as long as they keep their distance and don’t charge her (and are not Spiritomb), she can force herself to deal… however, the moment she becomes incredibly uncomfortable, her Krookodile will immediately be at her side.

[unovasrose]

confessions of a champion — 1 / ∞

“I don’t ever talk about this but... when I challenged the Unova League for the Champion title way back in the day, I had the hardest time facing Shauntal. I saved her for last for a reason.” Goosebumps rise along her arms at the memory and she wraps her arms around herself.

“It wasn’t because my team wasn’t prepared. Back then, I was pretty confident in my pokémon’s strength and our strategies; I wouldn’t have stepped up to the challenge otherwise. But her specialty...” she drifts off.

Ghost-types have always been her kryptonite. Her encounter with that one Spiritomb that likely still inhabits the catacombs beneath the abandoned Plasma castle left her scarred and that harrowing ordeal is something that she still struggles to overcome to this day.

“My stomach was twisting into knots while I was walking up those dark stairs. When I finally stepped into Shauntal’s room, the stacks of books around me started to sway, as if possessed. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I wanted so, so badly to just turn tail and run away. When the books suddenly started collapsing, I froze. My Krookodile burst out of his pokéball to block the books from crushing me and then loomed over me as Shauntal finally addressed us.” Whether or not the Elite had been blissfully unaware or just decided not to bring up Rosa’s distress, she’ll never know. Their battle started shortly after that, with Rocco and Clover plowing through Shauntal’s spectral gang, all while Rosa teetered on the edge of an anxiety attack. Her pokémon hadn’t battled with such ferocity since the days they’d confronted Neo Plasma — it was over in the blink of an eye.

“I pushed through the battle somehow, but when it was finally done, I broke down.” On her knees, chest tight, trembling and gasping for breath. Her Serperior had curled up around her protectively, daring anyone to come close until Rosa finally got a grip on herself. Shauntal had said nothing beyond a simple congratulations, then recalled her defeated pokémon and disappeared into the depths of her library. By the time Rosa recalled how to breathe again, they were alone and the eerie atmosphere had dissipated. 

“My battle with Iris was delayed a few days until I recovered. No one ever asked why and I never cared to elaborate. While I wasn’t sure Shauntal had noticed anything before, I now believe she knows. She makes it a point to never have any of her pokémon with her when she’s around me and I feel really bad about that...”

[unovasrose]

re: fear of ghost-type pokémon

Rosa’s fear of ghost-type pokémon is rooted in a terrifying encounter she had with a particularly aggressive pokémon when she was a child.

Due to her mother’s affiliations with Team Plasma, Rosa spent a lot of time in N’s Castle even when she was too young to be a part of the organization herself. The castle was enormous and none of the Grunts were allowed free reign of it so she usually stayed close to the nursery where her mother worked. However, on one particularly quiet evening, boredom and curiosity got the best of her and she wandered off while her mother was too busy to notice.

Rosa got lost meandering the castle halls and somehow ended up in the catacombs, where she stumbled upon a Spiritomb’s keystone and accidentally awakened the pokémon slumbering within it. The unleashed Spiritomb was a particularly violent one that lashed out at her and threatened to cave in the entire basement of the castle. Injured, terrified, and defenseless, Rosa scampered across the catacombs, ducking behind crumbling statues and barely avoiding the pokémon’s attacks. She was eventually rescued by a member of the Shadow Triad, who managed to subdue the Spiritomb with their Absol and returned it to its keystone.

In the years that followed the encounter, Rosa’s fear of ghost-type pokémon was physically paralyzing. Any encounter with a ghost-type, no matter how friendly or far away from her they were, would result in a severe panic attack and full mental shutdown that would take her out of commission for hours at a time. She always felt extremely guilty afterward, for she knew that not all pokémon were created equal and that she shouldn’t blame all ghost-types for the actions of one. Still, she couldn’t help it and her fear lingered for a very long time.

As she grew older and was able to raise pokémon of her own, she began to face her fear in hopes of overcoming it. It didn’t always go well but she eventually learned to deal with less-apparent or secondary-typed ghosts such as Golurk. The ones most resembling spirits and tied to bone-chilling lore, such as the Shuppet and Yamask lines, still terrify her. She has yet to encounter another Spiritomb so she has no idea how she will react if she ever finds herself face-to-face with the root of her fears, though at least she is now well-equipped to face one if she needs to.

[unovasrose]

ah yes, and her mentor @evoblue has an affinity for ghost-types as well

Rosa: has ghost-type pokémon-induced trauma

me: follows a bunch of muses that favor ghost-type pokémon

RIP Rosa

[unovasrose]

Rosa: has ghost-type pokémon-induced trauma

me: follows a bunch of muses that favor ghost-type pokémon

RIP Rosa

[unovasrose]

i’m crying too

[unovasrose]

"What do they call this...a kabedon?" That's the word, isn't it? With him effectively caging Rosa to the wall with his arms? Hilbert isn't sure of the word, but he had seen this kind of thing in a couple of mangas he read and wanted to try it.

"You're free to punch me if I scared you, by the way." Really, he's almost expecting it.

It absolutely doesn't matter that they've been together for like three years by now, or that she's kissed him countless times... Rosa stares at Hilbert in silence for what feels like an eternity, the heat rising in her face as her mind struggles to form a coherent thought.

Rosa Vail's Brain is not responding. Would you like to reboot?

Eventually, she dissolves into nervous giggles. Yeah, he might have broken her.

[unovasrose]

re: acting and Pokéstar Studios

Rosa’s acting career started inadvertently and very early on during her journey as a gym challenger when she was scouted by one of Mr. Stu Deeoh’s aides after her battle with Roxie. The scout was impressed with the passion and energy that Rosa projected during her battles and thought she’d be a good auditioning candidate for Riolu Girl in the studio’s upcoming film, Brycen-Man. Despite having taken part in some enjoyable drama skits in Trainer School, acting wasn’t something that Rosa had ever actually considered doing so she was a bit resistant at first, but she was eventually convinced to give it a try.

As it turned out, two years of successfully pretending to be someone she wasn’t (or pretending not to be someone she was?) prepared her well for playing a character in a movie. Immersing herself in a role and developing a new persona came easily to her and, since she never does anything in halves, she gave the audition her best shot. Even knowing how much effort she had channeled into her performance, she was still dismayed to find out that the audition had impressed both director Sergeo Pokémonski and Brycen, and thus landed her the role. While she agreed to stay in Virbank long enough to film her scenes, she took off for Castelia as soon as she could and didn’t stick around to see the finished product. The movie did well in the box office, but it didn’t suddenly inspire her to become an actress; at the time, she was more focused on her pokémon journey and learning more about the rising ‘Neo Plasma’ threat, so her brief acting stint was quickly forgotten.

It wasn’t until the tail end of her journey that Rosa was summoned back to Pokéstar Studios at Brycen’s request so she could reprise her role as the heroine in Brycen-Man Strikes Back, this time as Lucario Girl. This happened around the time when she first hit rock-bottom with her mental health, which led to her fully throwing herself into that and many other roles that the studio offered her. Acting quickly became a coping mechanism for her depression, where it was more about her pretending to be someone else—ANYONE but Rosa Vail—just so she could run away from all her problems.

Immersing herself in fantastical worlds where she could completely push aside reality helped her for a while, but it wasn’t until her mother confronted her over her depression that Rosa fully realized what she was doing and that she had to stop. She took an extended break from acting while she journeyed in Kalos and only returned to it after she became the champion of Unova. After a few rough patches during her first year, she found herself in a healthier state of mind and then returned to acting, this time because she actually enjoyed it, at which point her career fully flourished.

While Rosa does well in the action genre, her best work has always been in the fantasy genre and under the direction of Sydney Pokémet. Her first big solo hit and also her favorite film series to work on was Mystery Doors of the Magical Land, which is widely considered her best work. Her least favorite film series was Love and Battles because she felt like a pathetic, simpering fool the entire time during filming. Ironically, that series was also one of her greatest box-office hits and widely acclaimed by film audiences, particularly for Rosa’s emotionally evocative performance in the third installment of the series.

[unovasrose]

re: the valiant knight, Aspen the Lucario

Note: Aspen is one of three pokémon not originally from the roselocke. He was a member of her team before I did the roselocke blog revamp and I had grown far too attached to his concept to scrap him.

Rosa captured Aspen as a Riolu while she was exploring the Floccesy ranch. He refused to part ways with an extra-fluffy Mareep he was hanging around, who Rosa also captured. (That Mareep is now Elise, her Ampharos).

It was obvious from the beginning that Aspen had spent time in Virbank, particularly Pokéstar Studios, before he ended up in Floccesy. Despite his battling prowess, Rosa realized early on that he loved to show off in front of humans and was better suited for acting. 

Aspen is convinced that he's a knight and embraces this identity with great enthusiasm. He refuses to respond to anything but 'Sir Aspen', although he makes an exception for his trainer. As a Riolu, he would wield various sticks and long objects as weapons. Once he evolved and learned to manifest his aura in the shape of a sword, it became his favorite way to attack while in battle.

His dramatic behavior extends to his acting. He tends to go rogue while filming, which results in many strange endings that have skyrocketed him to superstardom. Rosa has long since given up on directing his actions, as he does best when he's acting on impulse.

If he is a knight, then Elise is his princess. When she was a Mareep and later a Flaafy, he would decorate her wool with flowers. Now that Elise has evolved into an Ampharos and is no longer fluffy, he creates flower wreaths for her to wear around her neck.

Aspen and Elise perform best in double battles together, as they work well together and naturally cover each other's weaknesses.

[unovasrose]

She playfully tugs on Nate's arm and then gestures to their friends on the dance floor. "Think they'll be alright?"

@prideraiised

[unovasrose]

"Umm... Where's Delta taking Crasher Wake?"

[unovasrose]

That moment when you destroy a Factory Head with an enormous snowball to the face...

[unovasrose]

No Vanillish are going to ruin Blue's gala on her watch!