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Darkness. Pain. The cold bars of a cage and the twisted emotions of those around it.
Experiment DH448, a genetically engineered Lucario-human hybrid dubbed "Project Shadow Aura" or "Shadow" for short, has been surrounded by these for as long as he can remember, experiments twisting and warping him and his aura until other Pokémon outright fear him on sight. However, that all changes when the police find the lab he's in. The next thing he knows, he is assigned to the care of Professor Oak, who in turn suggests that he accompany a young female trainer on her journey. What will happen between them? And will Shadow ever be able to escape the scars Team Rocket has left on his mind and soul?

Shadow - Lucario(?)
Level: 15
Type: Fighting/Dark/Steel
Moveset: Quick Attack, Metal Claw, Power-Up Punch, ????
Ability: Obscurate - Dark-type Aerilate/Pixilate/Refrigerate

(And here I thought I was eager. xd I'll start, feel free to make a small profile in your post if you want, otherwise it's fine.)

Shadow's eyes snapped open, the hybrid getting up as he heard the faint sound of footsteps; his captors had forgotten to shackle him, this was the perfect time to esc-
No, wait. The Lucario scanned his surroundings, calming down as he remembered that he wasn't in Team Rocket's clutches anymore. He was safe, as alien as the concept was to him.
Professor Oak opened the door to Shadow's room, smiling gently as he offered some food to the hybrid, which Shadow accepted with a gruff nod, same as usual; Shadow hadn't been here terribly long, but even Oak could tell that the Lucario wasn't exactly open. 'Still, I'm sure he'll open up to someone eventually.' Oak made sure to leave the door open in case Shadow wanted to wander, the Professor heading downstairs as he got ready for the newest trainer-to-be - a girl, if he remembered correctly.

"Yes," Oak confirmed. "You see, I know you already have a starter Pokémon, but I was hoping you would be willing to take in another." He noted a faint movement in the corner of his eye, but didn't turn to look; apparently Shadow had sensed the new presence and was curious. "He's been rather poorly treated, to put it lightly; I've done my best to help him, but he won't open up to me, and I'm afraid I have far too much to do, so I can't give him the attention he needs. I was thinking perhaps it would do him good to have a proper Trainer to care for him." He spotted another faint movement, closer this time; good, Shadow was interested in his little suggestion. "I've heard nothing but good things about you, so I was hoping you could be the one to take him in."

"Well, I'm not sure about the full extent, but considering the circumstances the police found him in, it was definitely bad," Oak admitted. He smiled slightly as he added, "As for whether he wants to come with you, why don't you ask him yourself?" He nodded to a corner of the room.
Sure enough, there Shadow was, leaning against the wall with arms crossed, his cool gaze examining Trinity critically. After a moment, he glanced over at Oak and gave a brief nod, as if to say "she'll do", before walking up to her and starting to tap his foot, waiting patiently for her to take the hint.

Oak nodded. "Yes, he answers to Shadow; he's rather insistent that we not call him anything else, in fact," he answered.
Shadow eyed the Balls warily before pressing one paw against the Luxury Ball, going into the ball; as usual, the ball wobbled for a couple of moments before a beep was heard, indicating Shadow had been caught. Almost immediately, the Lucario came back out, giving Trinity a pointed look that made his opinion on Pokéballs rather clear: he wasn't going to go in his Ball unless absolutely necessary.

Shadow glanced at the bandanna, considering it a moment; he could sense nothing but a genuine desire to keep him from being harassed, so he nodded, shifting slightly so she could put it on for him more easily - paws made it a bit difficult to do anything that required knot-tying.

Sure enough, Shadow followed swiftly, silently watching his new trainer curiously, trying to figure out exactly what her motives for helping him were. Sure, he knew he was probably being cynical, but better to be safe than sorry. At the same time, he kept an eye out for any Pokémon, though he knew that most non-Dark and non-Ghost Pokémon tended to go out of their way to avoid him... there were exceptions, of course, but that was the general rule.

(Er, concerning the gyms, I'm assuming we're doing the Red, Blue & Yellow/anime version?)

Shadow nodded in agreement, still following Trinity. However, before they could get much farther, they found their way blocked by a bunch of rather agitated Rattata - most of which were watching Shadow warily and making aggressive noises whenever he got too close.