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Personality
Bright and inquisitive, Ariel is never in the same place for long. She has a naive attitude towards life and rarely looks before she leaps, which can lead to all sorts of trouble. Ariel is also extremely resourceful and uses the materials in her immediate area to get by. She has quite a childish sense of humour and dreams of eventually becoming a pokemon breeder after raising her vulpix, Calcifer, from an egg. Ariel is fifteen years old.
History
Ariel was not born in the Sinnoh region - she is a traveller from Hoenn. For most of her life, she was brought up by her grandparents in Sootopolis City; however, for the first five years of her life, she lived with her parents and younger sister Sara in Lilycove. When her family chose to relocate to Sunyshore City in Sinnoh, Ariel made the decision to remain behind with her grandparents instead, who lived far away at sea. As a parting gift, a small amber pokemon egg was given to her by her father. For many nights after her parents left, Ariel took to sleeping with it, much like a teddy bear, until it became her most treasured posession.
Life in the volcanic crater was quiet and seperated at the best of times, and although she loved her grandparents dearly and wanted for very little, Ariel spent her childhood yearning to explore the world beyond the sea. She kept in regular contact with her parents and sister by pokemail, but the expense of visiting in person was too great on both sides, and so the years passed by. Finally, when she was eight years old, Ariel awoke one morning to find her empty arms littered with eggshells and a tiny vulpix with a snow white tail steadily singeing her pillow; she named him Calcifer.
Even though Calcifer stayed by Ariel's side night and day, the urge to see her parents and sister again and explore the lands outside the quiet crater town grew stronger and stronger inside of her. After much thought, her kind grandparents agreed that she would be free to roam beyond Sootopolis and visit her family once Calcifer's tail had split into six - effectively marking the day he ceased to be a baby and grew into a young pokemon - upon the single condition that she must find her own way to get there.
A few more years passed by, until the day that Ariel had longed for finally arrived; ten days after her fourteenth birthday, Calcifer's tail split for the final time, and she set out on her journey to see her family again and explore the world.
Travels
After getting permission to leave Sootopolis, Ariel and Calcifer were offered a ride by Rufus, an old friend of the family, who was on his way to Lilycove with the help of his long-time partner Fearow. Once there, Ariel was taken on as a maid and cook in a guest house owned by an elderly couple, who allowed her to live there and paid her a small wage in exchange for her services. A year passed by, in which time Ariel applied to be a pokemon trainer and co-ordinator and saved up enough money for a ferry ticket. When she had finally obtained one, she and Calcifer set off and journeyed across the ocean, finally coming to rest in Canalave before journeying to Goldenrod and meeting Alex.
Extra Info
- The stone that Ariel wears around her neck is a black moonstone. It was given to her by her grandmother on her thirteenth birthday, and she considers it something of a good-luck charm.
- Although Ariel dreams of becoming a great pokemon breeder, she is eager to participate in as many experiences as possible during her travels including battles and contests. After she has been reuinited with her family, Ariel plans to enter Calcifer in a pokemon contest as soon as she can.

Calcifer ♂
Calcifer is rather spoilt, but essentially very loyal and inquisitive. He is an opinionated soul and never hesitates to let his thoughts be known. He also has an enormous appetite.

- Swift
- Leer
- Fire Spin
- Ember

>

Lily ♀
Lily was caught at a small pond close to the Oreburgh Gate. Although by nature she is calm and rational, she transforms into a fierce fighter in battle and rarely backs down. Usually, Lily prefers to remain in the solitude of her pokeball.

- Water Sport
- Peck
- Tail Whip

a r i e l

"This is my home. My dad shouldn't be home as he works during the night but my mom should be here."

Ariel nodded. She felt nervous at the prospect of meeting Alex's mother, not least for keeping him out so late, but she kept this to herself as Alex pulled out a key and let himself in.

Inside, the lights were switched off; leaning around Alex's shoulder, Ariel gazed at the empty hall, illuminated by the open doorway. After a moment's pause, Alex stepped into the house and signalled for her to follow. As soon as she had entered, Ariel turned and carefully closed the door behind her, shutting out the night. This soon turned out to be a bad idea; the room was instantly thrown into a thick darkness. Taking a few tentative steps forward, she peered through the shadows searching for Alex's shape. At her feet, she could feel Calcifer's tails brushing lightly against her ankles.

"Alex?..."

a r i e l

"Well, I..."

Ariel faultered slighty under the woman's questioning stare. As friendly as the smile that Alex's mother wore was, her expression had turned curiously steely the moment she saw he had company. However, if Ariel had any hopes of dragging Alex back home with her, she had to try and make the best first impression possible. Somewhere below, Calcifer gave a quiet yip; picking him up hastily to stop him wandering around, Ariel resisted the temptation to glance at Alex as she straightened and instead looked bravely into his mother's eyes.

"My name's Ariel," she said, trying her best to sound confident and friendly. "Ariel Sapphire. I was just trying to find my way to Oreburgh when I bumped into Alex, but it was getting kinda late and he said it would be okay for me to stay over. I hope you don't mind, Mrs... uh..."

A mild wave of embarrassment washed over her; Ariel suddenly realised she had no idea what Alex's last name was. Blushing tremendously, she broke her gaze and bowed her head, cursing her stupidity in her mind.

"... Alex's Mom."

a r i e l

As Alex was dragged out of view, Ariel couldn't help but feel a little dismayed. She didn't dwell on this for long, however.

"Torchic!"

Alex's Tochic was gazing expectantly at her from the hallway. Sighing quietly, Ariel gave him a smile.

"Lead the way, little guy."

Setting Calcifer down, Ariel padded softly after the small chick, glancing at the photos upon the wall. A couple of them bore a small, raven-haired boy with a cheeky smile, and another was a protrait of Alex's aunt, her hair slightly dated and her face young and beautiful.

(( Sorry it's short; I didn't want to control what Torchic does =3 ))

a r i e l

(( Sorry Dragn, took a break from Gaia for a bit. I'm still officially on haitus, but I'll be keeping up with my roleplays from now on. Also, I've had your sprite finished for a while now, but it won't let me upload it to Photobucket for absolutely no reason; if you know another image hosting site, I'd be grateful >.< ))

Ariel stared at the door Torchic had stopped in front of. Behind her, Calcifer was staring thoughtfully at the lettering on Alex's door.

Torchic! Tor!

Placing a slightly clammy hand on the door handle, Ariel stepped into the spare room and flicked on the light.

It was tastefully decorated, but she had expected no less; if not exactly welcoming, it at least gave off a distinct air of being well-kept. Ariel approached the bed, made up with sickly violet blankets and a single pillow, and sat down upon it, pulling her bag from her shoulder and gazing thoughtfully at a painting on the wall opposite. It showed an exotic looking beach - the sun was out of sight, shining brightly upon an unnaturally calm ocean and a couple of circling Wingull. In the back of her mind, she was reminded of the sandy shores of Lilycove...

A faint scratching drew her out of her thoughts. Turning towards the doorway, Ariel saw Calcifer still in the hall, pawing determinedly at Alex's bedroom door. Even as she watched, he stood unsteadily on his hind legs and leaned against the wood, his paws reaching upwards for the handle.

"Calcifer! Get away from there," Ariel hissed, sitting forwards hastily; her bag fell from the bed and landed on the carpet with a muffled thunk. Distracted, Calcifer gazed back at her for a second, his eyes wide and defiant, before stretching up and deftly pulling the door handle down with one paw. Alex's door swung open.

"Calcifer!"

Ignoring Ariel's furious whispers, Calcifer trotted through the small gap and disappeared into the darkness beyond it.

a r i e l

"GUYS!"

Ariel's shriek was louder than she had expected as she rushed towards Alex's doorway; Calcifer had joined Tochic on the bed, but was instead proceeding to stick his snout into Alex's pillowcase.

"Calcifer, stop it! We shouldn't be in here," Ariel hissed, stopping directly outside of the room and peering in angrily. Calcifer lifted his head from the pillow and yipped loudly in reply.

"Shhhhh!"

But the vulpix had no intention of being quiet; yipping a couple more times, he curled up upon the displaced pillow and laid down his head, bobbing up and down slightly as Torchic bounced at the other end. From his perplexed expression, he was clearly stumped as to how it had so much energy after such a long day.

For a moment or two, Ariel considered the situation. Tochic was obviously at ease intruding Alex's space; perhaps he was used to it. However, it was another question as to whether Alex (or his mother, for that matter) would object to her and Calcifer's apparent disregard for his privacy...

She could stand in the doorway and think about it for an hour, but the situation remained the same; once Calcifer had made up his mind about something, it was useless to convince him otherwise - and he was currently glaring from Alex's pillow at the bouncing torchic as if irritated by the bed's motion. Sighing quietly, Ariel stepped into the room, the door swinging slightly behind her. The first thing that drew her attention was the figurines; stepping up to them, Ariel picked up the foremost one and examined it. The tiny torchic's eyes gazed back indifferently, its beak open in a constant cry of joy.