Name: Sierra Istas
Gender: Female
Age: 20 years old
Current Rank: Grunt
Physical Description: Sierra stands around 5'6", at average height. She has long, straight black hair that hangs to her mid-back. Usually she leaves her hair hanging free, but in the case of a serious mission or such, she'd pull it back into a loose ponytail at the base of her neck to keep it out of the way. She has icy blue eyes and fair skin.
Personality: Distant and serious to most, she has a very thick wall built to keep others out. She is respectful when the situation calls for it, but if you haven't earned her respect in some manner, either by rank or by action, don't expect to receive it. She won't hesitate to tell someone that they're incompetent or worthless if she believes them so.
History: Sierra was an only child. Her mother worked in law enforcement, over her daughter's lifetime, growing from a beat cop to a respected police detective with much promise for further promotions. She loved her work, even on the tough days, and she strove to instill a strong sense of justice in her daughter. More responsibility meant more work, and long hours at the office. She spent fewer evenings at home, making dinner for her family, and more evenings chasing down lawbreakers and ne'er-do-wells, leaving more of the home responsibilities to her husband.
Her husband, Sierra's father, was a tradesman. He'd worked construction, plumbing, electrical, and other assorted 'hats' in his life, but times had gotten tough. More workers being trained, but less money due to economic stresses, meant that the jobs that existed were highly sought after. Sometimes, you just had bad luck. Although she tried to be considerate, his wife's successes sometimes grated on his patience, as if serving as a comparison between them; that he wasn't good enough to provide for his own family. Sometimes the frustration of it all got to be too much, and he had to find some sort of outlet for his anger.
Enter Sierra.
She'd always been a quiet child, kept out of the way for the most part. So, her mother didn't really notice when her behavior seemed to grow more so. Some would think that being a police detective, she should have the observational instincts to realize that something was wrong at home. Maybe so, but we tend not to notice the things that happen right underneath our noses, closest to home.
Sierra hadn't been allowed to go on a Pokemon journey when she turned ten years old. Her mother felt that was too young for one to be out on their own, in such a rough world. Perhaps when she was older. She wasn't allowed to keep a Pokemon of her own either, because her father insisted that he wouldn't have any other creatures making a mess of his house.
As Sierra usually ended up cleaning up after
him, it was silently that she noted the irony in his argument. But she never raised a word of argument. She knew what came next if she raised so much as her voice. The strikes were bad enough, but possibly worse were the sharp jabs that she was useless and would never amount to anything because she was weak. Maybe it made her father feel better about himself. She didn't know. She didn't know if what he said was true or not; but it hurt nonetheless.
As she grew older, her mother's lessons on morality and justice began to warp in her head. The party in the right wasn't always the one that was just. It was the one with the most power. And if her mother, representing the law and justice society had to offer, wasn't observant or strong enough to save her own daughter from oppression in her own home, then what power did Law and Justice hold in the real world? As much as they worked to stop criminals, did they ever make any real headway? Criminals continued to commit crimes. Not all of them were caught. And more appeared as time went by. Perhaps the real power lay within the criminal element, the dark side that created its own justice and morality.
At age eighteen, Sierra had had enough. Driven by a desire to make herself stronger, independent, and drive out all her 'weakness', she made a plan. Her mother could no longer object with her age as a reason, so she gave the excuse that she was going to start her Pokemon journey. She packed her bags, planned her route, then promised to write. Then, she set out, her true destination to seek out the infamous Team Rocket and see if they would let her join their ranks.
Strengths: Deft hands; able to move without being detected, basically by blending in or seeming unassuming; basic first aid
Weaknesses: Trust issues; not used to fighting for herself, at least not physically, so untrained in that aspect
Future Plans for Character: Make her some friends, force her to open up, maybe learn some useful skills, either fighting, or develop her apparent skill for pickpocketing into something more professional, all while helping her to grow and deal with her issues with her past and her family.
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