Post by Genevieve on Sept 30, 2012 22:35:40 GMT -5
Name (Nicknames?): Kayla Applegrove
Gender: Female
Date of birth [Age]: March 14th [15]
Appearance:
Kayla is a fairly average young girl, standing at 5’3 and of a fairly average weight. She lacks the curves of some girls at her school, as her body hasn’t really blossomed that much yet. This fact is something she’s always rather aware of, even if she tries to ignore it and act like she doesn’t care.
Kayla’s hair is a rich auburn colour, falls to her shoulders when left untouched. Typically though, Kayla likes to style it at least a little bit, so the strands of hair rarely actually touch her shoulders. Complimenting her hair, Kayla’s eyes are big and brown with flecks of gold in them. They normally have a hard and stubborn light in them, which makes their gaze seem rather intense and defiant, even when she’s listening to others and doing as she’s told.
Kayla loves her clothes, and loves to dress up and make herself look nice, even if the outfit in question isn’t exactly practical for the situation at hand. One thing of note is that she isn’t a fan of pants, especially jeans. She’ll wear a dress, she’ll wear almost any length of skirt, and maybe you can twist her arm into wearing formal dress pants on occasion, but she will never, ever wear jeans (much to her family’s dismay).
History: Not everyone in the Pokémon world is very experienced with Pokémon. In the big cities there are Pokémon all over, but for the average person, they’re something you see but rarely interact with.
Born and raised in Goldenrod City, Pokémon really weren’t much of a concern for Kayla Applegrove. Her family for generations had been farmers, tending and raising a variety of Pokémon. Her mother had broken the family tradition when she’d fallen in love with a man from the city. They had moved to Goldenrod, where the man was a technician in the radio tower, and a few years later Kayla was born.
For the most part Kayla never really bothered with Pokémon. Her focus was just simply, music, school, fashion and her friends, with only the rare visit to her grandparents on their farm. Going to the farm was never really something she enjoyed, as her cell reception was always poor, and it always smelled so….earthy.
Kayla’s life however changed when her grandfather died. The death of one of her grandparents was a big blow not just to her mother, but their family as a whole. All alone now, their grandmother really couldn’t handle the farm alone, and as a result was as risk of losing the farm entirely. It was a rough time for them, and in the end her parents decided to make some sacrifices, sold their home in the city, and moved back to the farm.
For Kayla this was like, the worst thing ever. She was a city girl, and all the muck and dust and dirt and wilderness just felt disgusting to her. Though her father wasn’t much better, he adapted, as he had to do a large portion of the work around the farm now. Months passed, but still Kayla was miserable, and showed no signs of adapting to life out in the country.
In desperation, her parents tried everything they could think of to spark some sort of interest in their daughter. Time and again their efforts failed, and now they had a new issue at hand, as their life on the farm slowly but surely was causing a division in the family, between parents and daughter.
It was her aging grandmother who came up with a plan to try and solve the problem. The farm had a lot of animals, and in particular a large herd of miltank. One of the cows was due to give birth, and Kayla was forced to help them with the birthing.
It was quite easily the most amazing and disgusting thing the young teen had ever seen. Amazing to see life be born into the world, but also disgusting to see how slimy the whole thing was. Despite how gross it was, Kayla did feel a bit of a bond for the little baby miltank, though it was no more than a passing curiousity to her.
Seeing her interest in something farm related, her parents encouraged and nurtured that spark of interest, first making it her duty to check up on the newborn, then to help take care of it. Though she was willing to take care of that one particular miltank, the rest of the farm wasn’t interesting to her at all. Her heart was still in the city, despite all her parents had done.
A year past, and that young miltank grew and grew, and Kayla visited it less and less. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the miltank, she had in fact grown to love it, the issue was simply that she didn’t feel like it needed her anymore. She wanted to hang out with her friends, and to visit the city.
Finally enough was enough. Kayla was sat down and as a family they discussed the situation of the farm, its future, and Kayla’s involvement in the farm. Though she was stubborn, even Kayla could admit to the fact that things weren’t quite as simple as just moving back to the city. They’d owned this farm for generations, their grandmother needed them, and what would they do with the farm in the future? They wanted to give it to Kayla one day, and then leave the future of the farm in her hands.
Their discussions were pretty intense, and for the bulk of it her grandmother remained silent, just sitting and listening. As both Kayla and her parents finally settled down, the elderly woman spoke up. She suggested that Kayla go on a journey. If she saw more of the world, and really opened her horizons, she’d know for sure what she wanted. If, after such a journey, she still wanted nothing to do with the farm, then they’d accept her decision, and work to sell the farm.
The suggestion startled Kayla, but was also so tempting. For 2 years they’d been stuck on this farm, and for both those years her parents had pressured her nonstop to take up some responsibility. Now, with the chance to be free of their demands forever, it was an offer she simply couldn’t refuse.
As she prepared to leave, her parents came to her with a special surprise. They told her that no matter what her family would always be with her and supporting her, no matter what decision she came to in the end. As a sign of their faith they gave Kayla her first Pokémon. As Kayla opened the Pokémon to view her first Pokémon, a few sentimental tears came to her eyes. It was the miltank she’d helped raise as a baby.
With her new Pokémon, Kayla set out on her journey, to discover first hand, just what kind of future she’d end up making for herself.
Interactions with Pokémon: Kayla’s interactions with Pokémon are very minimal. She’s seen them a lot, both when she lived in the city, and especially on her family’s farm, but interaction with them really isn’t something she’s had a lot of. The most interaction she’s had is with her prestarter Milly, who she helped raise from a newborn.
Personality:
- Stubborn
If there was one word that would be used to describe Kayla it’s Willful. Once she forms an opinion, or makes a decision, it’s next to impossible to change her mind. For example, if she decides to fight a pokemon or trainer, and she’s clearly losing / her tactics are not working, her stubborn pride will refuse to let her back down / adapt, even when she knows she’s wrong. To her, there is no greater failure then to give in to the opinions of others, even if they’re right and you’re wrong.- Passionate
When it comes to Kayla the word ‘like’ doesn’t exist. She either loves something, or she hates it. When combined with her stubborn nature, there are no mild arguments, or simple explanations. You cross her path and tell her she’s wrong, and you’re in for a shouting match and a real fight. Likewise, if you break her heart, prepare for the waterworks. Some would say this makes her a bit of a drama queen, but attention and spotlight is absolutely the last thing on Kayla’s mind.- Loyal
Even though Kayla is stubborn, and as likely to punch you as she is to compliment you, loyalty is something very important to Kayla. It was in fact this sense of loyalty to her family that has left Kayla so conflicted, and what convinced her to even go on this Pokémon journey in the first place. If Kayla makes a promise to someone, or vows to do something, then her word is good. Even if she wants to, needs to, feels like she has to break her word, she won’t. It’s just something she simply won’t allow herself to do.
Pre-starter information: Milly and Kayla share a special bond, even if neither of them will really admit it. Kayla was there when Milly was born, had named her, and with her parents guidance had even helped raise her. With a bond like this, one would think that the two would be inseparable, however that isn’t the case.
Though Kayla helped raise Milly, she visited less and less as Milly grew. For the miltank, who had viewed Kayla as her older sister and best friend, this had hurt her a lot. She doesn’t exactly forgive Kayla for abandoning her the way she did, and as a result likes to stubbornly disobey her trainer – or at least make her life difficult.
For Kayla things are completely different. She loves this miltank that she’d help raise, her problem however is with what Milly represents. Every time she looks at her, she’s reminded of her parents, their desire for her to take care of the family farm, and all the responsibility that goes with that. Part of her wants nothing more than to revive the bond she’d shared with Milly, but at the same time she fears that bond. What will happen to her desires and dreams for her life if she gets too involved in this ‘Pokémon trainer’ thing? As a result she’s torn between caring for her dearest friend and remaining detached and stubbornly distant from the miltank that represents the farm life she dislikes so much.
OOC: Miltank starter, no lab pkmn so @ lvl 4
Goals in Cheyenne: Kayla doesn’t have many goals really. She just wants to see the world, try out this Pokémon trainer thing, and see where it leads. Oddly enough, her secret goal is to fail, so that she can justify to herself and her family that she’s not meant to take care of and raise Pokémon.
ooc: Attempting to respark my MOOoooo--se