Post by ZOM on Oct 21, 2013 21:53:02 GMT -5
GERTRUDE "GERTIE" BAUER
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Pokemorph?: Flaaffy
Appearance: Pic 1 by me, Pic 2 by RoboticBread on Flight Rising
Gertie is a cute li'l gal, standing at only 5' even and with a distinctly bottom-heavy body type. Her hips are wide, her tummy is chubby, and her thighs are big and shapely, but she has small breasts, narrow shoulders, and strong but relatively skinny arms. She moves as though she is about to jitter out of her skin due to all her pent-up energy, with a springy step and quick, nimble movements accompanied by wild hand gestures when she speaks. She has impressively upright posture as perhaps part of her attempt to seem bigger and taller, although she doesn't need additional height to have a big presence.
Some of her most distinguishing features are those which identify her clearly as a Pokemorph. Her skin is a warm brown hue, but her hair is a stark contrast; her fluffy white afro adds several inches to her silhouette, and it connects to the white cottony collar around her neck. Poking out from her big dandelion mane are two pink-and-black striped sheep ears, wide and tapered to a point at the ends. Sprouting from her lower back is a long Flaaffy tail, pink-and-black striped and tipped with a shiny blue orb that glows and sparks with electricity. To complete the "look," she even has a yellow lightning bolt tattoo on her right bicep. Not to let her Pokemorphism be all that defines her, though, Gertie loves to dress in the brightest possible colors imaginable, usually many different colors at once all clashing together. Primarily she will wear tank tops and short-shorts over camisoles and tights or leggings, the latter of which tend to have rips in the knees from frequent stumbles to the ground and tears on the inner-thighs from where they rubbed together while she was running. She loves gaudy patterned socks and tights, bright sneakers dulled by a coat of dirt and dust and grass stains, and the most tacky and candy-colored jewelry you can imagine jangling around her wrists and neck. Most notably she is very fond of beads, and she wears her Pokeballs on magnetic bracelets on each wrist. She has acquired a pair of neon pink roller skates, and while traveling through well-paved areas she can usually be seen zipping around on these.
Even with all her color and her hair and her electricity-conductive wool, Gertie's smile may well be the most vibrant thing about her. She has a cute little mouth with big soft lips framing her white, straight teeth, and when she smiles it lights up her whole face and tiny dimples appear at the corners of her mouth. She has a big round nose, almost koala-like, and beady black eyes which frequently crinkle up at the corners with delight or widen and burn with anger. Her eyebrows are round white spots which disappear beneath her curly white bangs whenever she is surprised or incredulous, or furrow low in agitation. Her oval-shaped face is nicely framed by her hair and wool collar, and overall she really is a pretty girl, unique in appearance but charming in her own way. She will refuse to hear otherwise, too, because she loves how she looks and really, that's what matters as far as she's concerned.
Personality:
This girl marches to the beat of her own drum. Though friendly and agreeable with those she respects or gets along with, she is a very independent person who is just as happy boppin' around all by her lonesome as she would be in a crowd of friends. She regards authority figures with distrust and hates to be bossed around, and any scorn turned on her due to her appearance or her actions will be met with indignation and defiance. While she has known people who have admired this sort of fierce independence she possesses, it has also gotten her in trouble many a time, and her stubborn adherence to what she thinks is right does sometimes hurt those around her. She never means to be selfish in her actions, and she loves to help out a friend in need or do something to bring joy to those around her. Unfortunately, she does not take critique well and therefore has difficulty accepting when she has made a mistake that negatively impacted someone else. She has an even more difficult time apologizing for it once she comes to terms with her genuine error.
That said, Gertie is a fun person to be around. She is as cheerful, energetic, and enthusiastic as they come, as evidenced by the speed with which she speaks and moves and the grand, sometimes over-dramatic ways that she emotes. She likes fun and excitement, and seeks it out whenever possible, usually bringing her friends and companions along for the ride if they are willing. From exploring the wilderness with Pokemon to partying at a friend's house, Gertie loves to have a good time in any capacity. She is also a very sensual and sexual person, and her flirtatious habits do sometimes make others uncomfortable, though in these cases she is actually quite good at recognizing when she has overstepped boundaries and backing off with a sheepish apology. Those who are willing to go along with her often joking flirtations are her favorite kinds of people, though, because then she has a fun new game to play whenever she wants a laugh or a kiss.
Not everything about Gertie is fun and games, however. She has a nasty temper and loves to scrap with those who make her angry, so long as she feels they deserve it and are willing to go toe-to-toe with her. She may be small, but she's a sturdy li'l critter, and feisty to boot. In addition, she does feel emotions very strongly and express them with the same enthusiasm with which she does everything else. She is difficult to upset, as she usually expresses herself with anger in these cases, but when she is sad she is temporarily inconsolable. Luckily, she is a happy person by default, so it takes rather extreme circumstances to evoke such a dramatic response.
When it comes to raising Pokemon and traveling, Gertie sees these things as another fun adventure to undergo. It also presents an exciting challenge, because despite her overabundance of energy Gertie has always been prone to illness; her parents have always coddled her and tried their best to protect her, but Gertie wants to show that she is able to become a powerful and respectable trainer all on her own. She may need the occasional break to recover when she falls under the weather, but she is determined not to let that throw a wrench in her plans to train up a bunch of tough, sweet Pokemon and prove her worth against the Elite Four! Never mind the additional challenge presented by the language barrier, though. That, she finds, is almost no challenge at all, since it's rather fun to chatter away in German and see who does or does not understand.
History:
Gertie's life has very much been a process of overcoming odds and adversity. She was born to two human parents in a cold, small region far from Decona, and right away it was clear that something was wrong. Gertrude's immune system was extremely weak; she fell ill frequently, and suffered greatly from even what should have been minor colds. This was distressing for the parents, for their child was very young, and these illnesses threatened Gertrude's life many a time. They did what they could to protect their child from sickness, from the outside world that would try to infect her, but disease was not something that they could prevent so long as they ventured outside and brought colds and flus back.
And venture out they did, for they were not a tremendously well-off family, and hard work was a necessity. The mother, Bianka, worked nights at the town's local diner as a waitress. The father, Julian, worked long hours at a nearby logging company. The two took turns looking after Gertie, so even though they saw little of each other their daughter was never alone. Still, even with all the work they put in at their respective jobs, money was always tight. Gertie's hospital bills added up very quickly, as did the cost of rent for their little cabin, not to mention the cost of food and anything else they might need. The family was lucky, for they lived in a very close-knit community where their neighbors would often host them for dinner or come by to babysit if the parents ever needed a brief respite. They did their best to remain positive and never complained, even though their hearts filled with dread every time Gertie's little chest began to wrack with coughs.
When Gertie was around 8 years old, she was still a very sickly child, but she was the pride and joy of her parents. She was cheerful and spirited, and she spoke frequently of her ambitions to train Pokemon and travel and become rich and famous, even when she was confined to her bed. Gertie often tried to leave the house on her own, sneaking away to play in the snow with neighborhood friends, but every little adventure she pursued resulted in a horrible flu that incapacitated her for days and days. Her parents, thinking they might be able to dissuade her from pushing herself too hard, got her a Pokemon to keep her company while she rested. The young Shroomish they got for Gertie became the girl's best friend, and she named him Gabi because she liked the way their names went together.
Gertie and Gabi were inseparable, and Gertie's parents noted with relief that at first their daughter's adventures had screeched to a halt; she seemed content, for now, to be home-schooled and get plenty of bed rest, safe and sound. Unfortunately, this did not last long, since Gabi proved to have just as much energy and adventurous spirit as Gertie did. The two began to venture out together more frequently than Gertie ever had on her own, and so too did Gertie fall sick more frequently than ever before.
A particularly long string of illnesses left Gertie distraught. Clutching Gabi to her little chest, she wept that she would never be able to leave the house, that she would be stuck inside for the rest of her life like some princess in a castle. She didn't want to be a princess, she bemoaned. She wanted to be an explorer, like the princes in the stories, and she wanted to be a warrior, like the knights. She wanted to be a dragon. Her parents were alarmed by her outburst, but her childlike desires reflected what they knew to be true: their child was too free-spirited to be confined forever, and indeed they couldn't keep her there even if they tried. They fretted that Gertie would become fatally ill if they let her off on her own once she was old enough, and they decided that they would need to find some way to make her independence a possibility.
They researched, and they asked around, and what they eventually discovered was a peculiar injection from Decona. From what they gathered, those injected would change dramatically in many positive ways: they were stronger, and faster, and healthier. The side-effects were strange, and the price was very high, but no conventional medicines had helped Gertie much before. Desperate for a solution, the family reached out to their community for help. They raised money with the assistance of their friends and neighbors, and after a year of setting aside what money they could, the Bauer family could afford this extraordinary procedure for their daughter.
Bianka and Julian had the injection imported to the local hospital, where Gertie was well-known to all the doctors and nurses. They wished her luck as she walked into the room where she would undergo the procedure, and though she was nervous, she was not afraid. She was excited. She sat, cold and jittery, in the big examination chair, and when they strapped her in to be sure that she would not hurt herself further when the pain hit, she did not cry or squeeze her eyes shut. They sunk the needle into her right arm, and she flinched, and she and the doctor waited.
Then, there was pain. Her skin burned and crawled as if millions of tiny ants were biting and stinging at her, all over her scalp, her neck, her lower back, her ears. At first, it stunned her, and then she did cry and squirm and writhe. But finally it became manageable, a pain she could get used to, and they sent her home with pain medicine to help ease the process. Over the next week or so, the pain would sometimes increase tenfold as bones shifted and grew, and her body felt twisted and wrong. She was miserable, and when her hair turned white and wool began to grow around her neck she bawled with embarrassment and horror. It was not until the process was complete that her reaction transformed to once of excitement and glee once more.
It did take a while for Gertie to come to terms with her changed appearance, but she quickly discovered the things she could do; she could spark with electricity, she could run faster and longer than before, and she was stronger. Most importantly, however, was the change that became apparent more gradually. She wasn't getting sick anymore, at least not nearly as much. For the first time in her life, she felt free to go where she pleased, to spend time with friends and not worry whenever they coughed. She could run around in the snow with Gabi.
The world felt like a different place for two reasons. First, it was accessible where it had never been before. Secondly, the world looked at her differently. She had never been able to go out much, of course, but she had been popular with the other kids, and parents had liked her. Now, everyone was unsure how to react to her. She was strange, she wasn't human, she wasn't herself. Gertie didn't feel that these things were true, but that was how the other children and their parents approached her, and at first the reactions were deeply upsetting. It took some confidence-boosting words from her parents to remind her that she should never have to feel bad for being herself.
By the time she was 13, she was strutting around in pride, attending school by day and training Gabi in the afternoons. She was already something of a local legend due to her Pokemorph status, but she began to grow popular for her talent as a budding trainer. When Gabi evolved into a Breloom, he and Gertie were the talk of the school, and finally the other children began to accept her more readily again. She had less trouble finding friends to spend time with, and felt respected once more.
Then, on her sixteenth birthday, she told her parents that she wanted to get ready for a journey. She wanted to be a trainer, they had always known that, but she told them that she wanted to go somewhere far away, somewhere important -- the Decona region. She wanted to learn more about the place that had produced the injection that gave her a chance at life. Her parents didn't like the idea of her going so far from home, but they understood her rationale and they knew they couldn't persuade her against it no matter what they might have tried. Reluctantly they agreed to help her plan the trip, and started to save up funds for the plane ticket and spending money Gertie would need, in addition to supporting her while she finished school.
At seventeen years old, she was ready. She said goodbye to her parents, and hesitantly parted ways with Gabi, though she promised to come back and bring along plenty of other friends to play with. She set out on a little plane en route to the Decona region.
