Name: Tsubin Ikeda
Nickname: "Well.... Tsu. The worst you can do with nicknames is call me 'Sue', though it just doesn't sound any different. Do your worst though, I'm curious to see what comes up."
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 8"
Weight: 158lbs
Age: 17
Birthday: 12/28
Home Town: Pacifidlog Town, Hoenn
Orientation: Heterosexual, though somewhat dense.
Likes: "Surfing, diving, and drawing. And eating. Also, I'm the great caffeine-addict of my hometown. And... what else... Okay fine, here's a list."
- Coffee
- Tea
- Water
- Seawater (not for drinking, of course)
- Food that isn't spicy or bitter
- Art supplies
- Reading
- Inks and watercolors
- Museums and art galleries
- Watching intense Pokémon battles that he nor his Pokémon are not involved in
Dislikes: "Swimming, ironically. But I still need to keep up with it. And.... okay, okay fine, here's another list."
- Food that is spicy and/or bitter
- Seeing unfriendly interactions between trainers and their Pokémon, or between people in general
- People who don't take care of their Pokemon.
- Lists
- His cat allergies
Fears: "My worst fear is going blind, of course. Aside from that, there's the much greater fear of losing my Pokemon in any way. 'The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb' is the full phrase, anyway, and it does ring true."
Goals/Dreams: Tsubin wants to travel to see the world. An artist keeps his eyes open for everything around him, whether it's the people, his surroundings, or the Pokemon he encounters on the road. This is how he feels he had found himself, but he also wants to see where else he'll go. He doesn't feel that office jobs or customer service call to him; there's gotta be something else out there.
Skills: Growing up in the middle of the ocean sure has its perks. In the seventeen years of his life, Tsubin had grown quite adept at swimming, surfing, diving, and water skiing with his father's Sharpedo. He has a great sense of balance (on moving structures), and a hell of a lot of endurance from all the years of swimming through those damn strong currents just outside of town. His eyes are very keen when it comes to noticing details and abnormalities. He studied intensely on vacations from school, learning the anatomy of people and Pokémon, and has trained himself to observe not only the wildlife and scenery around him, but also the people he passes by; observing people seems to have become a habit. Aside from that, he seems to have partially mastered the art of stealth where he habitually and/or unintentionally sneaks up on people, though that could also be due to having to tread carefully over the log pathways in Pacifidlog. He has also gotten quite good with understanding Pokemon and their sounds and body language, especially when it comes to communicating with his own. He is also very good at making one-pot meals and soups, but can't say the same when it comes to cooking anything on a pan.
Status: "Wandering Artist. And trainer, I guess."
Theme Song: Shing02 - Lift the Fog Up Lyrics
BGM
For casual stroll through towns/cities: Kawai Kenji: Eden of the East
For Kawai Kenji: No Name In DC
For more intense battles/scenes: Joe Hisaishi - Kids Return
For contemplating: Joe Hisaishi - Green Requiem
For tense situations: Kawai Kenji - Unbalance
Favorite Types: "Oh c'mon, I'm not that biased about what kinds of Pokémon I like. Of course, I may have grown up in the middle of the ocean with a lot of water-types, but that doesn't mean much, does it? My main requirement from a Pokémon is that they help me get where I need to go and keep me company."
Least Favorite Types: "I'm allergic to cats. Please don't take that to mean that I don't like them. I like cats, but I just can't breathe around them. It gets worse in enclosed spaces."
Personality: Tsubin is a very relaxed and easygoing young man with quite a bit of quirks. Socially, he is quite awkward and introverted, having spent most of his time with his siblings more than with others. People-watching has been one of his favorite pastimes. He likes spending a lot of time outside with or without company, mainly with a sketchbook in hand and progressing through a series of strange and often uncomfortable positions by the time he finishes his work. While he enjoys being around others, he sometimes needs to slink away for some alone time to settle himself back down. He tends to be jumpy after a while of concentrating on something, though the presence of his trusted partners at his side reduces the chances of startling him; he's more approachable when he's already not engrossed in something. As much as he likes wandering around, he can get very lazy too, occasionally enjoying lounging on larger Pokemon and letting them take him wherever. His carefree happy childhood and current life are perhaps of the enviable kind for many, and he is quite aware of it. He tends to be quick to offer help when he feels it might be needed.
History: Tsubin is the second son and third child of an otherwise... ordinary woman and a man who had left the Kanto region to settle in a remote area in Hoenn: Pacifidlog Town.
Away from the hustle and bustle of the larger cities, Pacifidlog was perfect for the Ikeda's. It was a calm life in a small house floating in the middle of the ocean among other homes and buildings, and the couple raised a total of four children, all separated by a year or so in age. They were a loud and lively bunch, always seen swimming through the currents or running around together on the log paths connecting all the homes, occasionally slipping and falling into the water when the planks were too wet. Tsubin is one of the middle children with one brother and two sisters, and the second least troublesome. They were rarely ever separated, at least while none of them were off in Rustboro City for school; they all had to leave Pacifidlog one at a time, and then stayed until they finished a semester. Luckily, they had an uncle living in the city and them lodged at his house until they had breaks between school years.
And it was during his time in the school that a peculiar presence started appearing, following him and his siblings around as they walked around Rustboro, even back to their home in Pacifidlog. It was unlike any other he had read about at first, but after finding some outside information, he found out what the strange Pokemon that had started lurking around him was: a Litwick, a ghost Pokemon found in the Unova region. Exactly what he had found out about it was worrisome, of course: its kind burned the life energy of people and Pokemon it fools into following them to the afterlife. Tsubin and his family were cautious as they kept it within their sights, but something seemed off about the animated candle Pokemon. It made it obvious that it was following them around instead of trying to lead them off somewhere, keeping its bright yellow gaze focused on Tsubin. The Ikeda bunch took its appearance to them as an omen, but were utterly confused about its attempts at friendly interaction and that it kept the flame on its head off when it should've been burning constantly. Gradually, they got used to it being around, as it gave them no sense of ill-will or malice and just seemed to want company. Much to their amusement, the little female candle-ghost seemed to like cuddling up to Tsubin and watching him at his usual hobby of drawing whenever he was still dry and not soaked from swimming in the ocean. It didn't take too long for the family to welcome it to their clan and just like that, it rarely ever left Tsubin's side (until he goes swimming or surfing) and even traveled back to Rustboro with him and his siblings a few times. She was named Hikari, and later evolved into a Lampent while the four were in class one day and greeted the startled bunch in her usual manner upon their return, but they were quick to get used to her new form.
While attending the school, the Ikeda siblings weren't at the very top of the class, but were among the top students in their years, and constantly challenged each other in their studying. Despite their scores by the time the two eldest siblings graduated, not all of them were quite looking to becoming full-on Pokemon trainers, Tsubin included. Apparently they all had their own interests. For Tsubin, he found his calling in the arts. Having grown quite proficient at it, he stopped caring about his work being good enough to be bought and displayed, though it sometimes caught him off guard when a passerby would ask to buy his finished pieces or sometimes whatever he was working on, often those that featured his ghostly companion floating around quite contentedly. Occasionally, he had gotten a few requests to have a trainer or their Pokemon drawn on the spot. After having a few commissions just from being in his classes, he found that he could make a bit of a small living off of this kind of work, however sparsely requests found their way to him. On the bright side, Tsubin was the most frugal of the siblings, so he wasn't too concerned about earning and spending. And with this system, he decided he was going to set out into the world..... with his backpack stuffed with heavy art papers, watercolor supplies, and the clingy Lampent at his side. Knowing he still had another year left of school, he didn't want his adventure to be just part of another school break. He was absolutely going to make the most of it in whatever way he could.
Appearance/Physical Description: Tsubin is on the lean side. He has a decent but not overwhelming amount of physical bulk; most of his observable musculature is noticeable in his legs, arms, chest, back, and shoulders from having lived and grown up in Pacifidlog Town. His skin is also tanned quite darkly due to sun exposure, and his eyes are a deep, dark brown, looking almost like an inky black. His hair is a shaggy mass of dark smoky blue and constantly a mess despite most of his effort. As a common theme between himself and his three siblings, he has a lucky tail at the back of his head, the length reaching halfway down his back. Often times, it hangs loosely, but other times it could be seen braided up. It's usually not by his own doing.
In terms of attire, he dresses rather simply: a graphic t-shirt under a gray jacket, fitted jeans, a plain black belt, and sneakers. He just needs whatever's comfortable to move around in. He has two long scars on the back of his left hand from when a wild Carvhanna bit him when he was 15.
Edit log:
1/19/2021
• Rephrasing on his least favorite types. Minor changes to physical description to mirror new post layout picture.
• Added connections list, moved travel log to last post of thread.
1/20/2021
• Changed last name from "Itoshi" to "Ikeda".
1/13/2022
• Changed one word and added a sentence to Skills.
7/3/2022
• Minor details added or removed.
(July Horoscope)
(Thanksgiving Giveaway 2017)
