Valda

Valda is one of the shifters in the current game, and woke up as one on Day 5.

## Appearance

### As a human

Without her heels, Valda reaches five feet and five inches (the heels add another three inches). She is thin and agile with a finely toned musculature. Her hair is medium-length and reaches just beyond her shoulder blades when let down and is sleek black in color. It is normally pinned up and back in thick, elegant curls, with a few loose curls hanging against the back of her neck and cheeks (Example), though she does zero upkeep for the style and thus it often becomes a mass of black curls in wild disarray until all of the pins fall out. The yellow of her eyes is startlingly bright and unnatural. Her makeup is mostly simple, with a black top liner that wings outward, and a bottom teal liner that wings inward down her nose. Her lipstick is a dusty, matte purple. In each ear rests a large, cumbersome hearing aid; circular in shape, with a teal centerpiece and thin black inner rings, while the outer clasp of the aid is thick, black, and sports a spike on tip where it encircles the top cusp of her ear.

#### Original clothes

She wears a formal dress: the sleeveless bodice has a high neckline that is obscured by the fluffy white scarf wrapped around her neck. The front of the bodice is a deep purple, while the rest of the dress is black velvet; where the purple ends at her pelvis, a black belt is fashionably fastened with part of the belt hanging in front of the dress skirt. Two spikes tip the hanging end of the belt. Her dress is form-fitting and billows out slightly at the feet. Solid-colored fabric drapes from her backside (the fabric is sewn from the shoulders down to her buttocks) to purple wrist cuffs with black studs, allowing the fabric to flow freely from her arms. The inner side of the fabric is teal while the backside is black with purple lining the outer edge. Maroon suede half-gloves cover her fingers and palms (and partially the tops of her hands). Although usually hidden by the hem of the dress, her heels are slim and black, with various straps around her ankle and tops of her feet. Two red gems adorn the toe-straps of each shoe.

### As a Pokémon

Valda is taller than the average Noivern at 5’02 inches. Unlike before the game, Valda’s skin is virtually flawless with no evidence of her scaring. The teal of her coloration is bolder and brighter (borderline turquoise) than most other Noiverns.

## Backstory

Valda’s parents left her to fend for herself when she was young, as many Noiverns do when their Noibats reach a certain age. She took to battling extremely well, going so far as to kicking her brothers and sisters from the nests to claim her own territory. Valda was an adolescent Noivern, the proud guardian of her mountaintop in Kalos, when a human came waltzing into her space. At this point she hadn’t come across many humans-- as most didn’t bother with the trek up the mountainside-- so she was curious about this one. She fought his team well, but even a strong dragon like herself wasn’t able to overcome more than three enemies before succumbing to her injuries and fatigue. She was caught in an Ultra Ball, much to her displeasure, although she was still intrigued enough about the trainer that she decided to investigate further.(The trainer mistook her for a male Noivern at first and named her Jaeger-- Jay for short-- but kept the name even after realizing his mistake) He introduced her to competitive battling, where she flourished. Though their bond was not very close like it was with his other Pokemon, she tolerated her trainer enough that she remained with him, if only because that meant she could continue fighting. Together, they won several competitions and league challenges.

Eventually, she did reach a point where homesickness for her mountain began to call her. She grew restless and depressed, and often broke free from her Poké Ball in order to stay outside. Her trainer caught on fairly quickly, and told her that he would release her if she did him one last favor. He wanted some of her progeny to remember her by and continue her line of champions. Valda wasn’t thrilled by the idea, but if it won her freedom, she wasn’t opposed to it. The problem, however, was finding a male Pokémon that she liked enough to get that close to. Any of the dragons that her trainer introduced into her enclosure (something he had made especially for her to help with her restlessness) Valda immediately attacked. It wasn’t until she discovered some bumbling idiot of an Altaria locked in her pen (by accident, at least) that she finally made her selection. Together, they had three eggs. Two of the children hatched strong and healthy, but the third was sickly, thin, and bizarrely colored. Neither Valda nor her mate had ever seen a Noibat the color of seafoam before. And strangely enough, this little thing became the first object of her affections, and she grew attached to him in a way that had never occurred to her before.

Her trainer, unfortunately, felt the same. He was ecstatic over the discovery of a “shiny” Noibat. Despite the infant’s fragile state, Valda’s trainer took him from her enclosure and decided to place the Noibat into training early. He took several trips out of town with Vale (the name had come to Valda the moment he’d broken out of the shell), and left Valda behind with the other two. About a week later, her trainer returned-- alone. She listened with increasing dismay as he explained that Vale’s sickness had only progressed until the little Noibat was beyond the point of recovery and passed in his sleep.

The worst of it, however, was when he said he couldn’t let her go any longer. Valda was stunned. He said since she’d made shiny offspring before, then maybe she’d be able to again. He already had buyers lining up for her regular children. According to him, she was too valuable now to release. Valda grew immeasurably angry. First, his ignorance got her child killed, and now he had the gall to sell her remaining children and betray her last wish? She wasn’t some broodmare! Filled with rage, Valda destroyed her enclosure and smashed her Ultra ball into smithereens. She rampaged for a good while, trashing his facility to the best of her ability before finally taking to the skies and racing as far from him and his treachery as she could manage.

Eventually, Valda found another mountaintop to settle in on. (She had to fight a few Braviary for it, but her none-too-gentle persuasion paid off) She stayed there for several years by herself, defending her mountain from any who dared to trespass (especially humans). A male Goodra appeared one day, and no matter how many times she chased him down the mountainside, Valda always found him lounging by her pond the next morning. This exchange finally gave way to an unsteady companionship, and soon enough Valda found herself the mother of another clutch. To her relief, these two hatched with the same exuberance and strength (and normal Noibat coloring) as her other children from before. They were headstrong, like her, and enjoyed challenging themselves at every turn. She protected them with everything she had. When the first signs of human activity appeared at the summit of her mountain, she lost her temper and wreaked havoc anytime they drew close. Then her children evolved into Noivern, and the presence of her family on the mountain began to attract more humans despite Valda’s efforts to keep them away. She began to attack them outright and indiscriminately, even if the humans she went after weren’t interested in capturing her children.

Valda’s hatred for humans mounted higher and higher the longer she continued to fight them off. After one particularly nasty battle-- she’d barely survived the human’s Garchomp-- Valda found a strange voice echoing around in her head after she spent several minutes cursing the humans. When it prompted her for her greatest wish, she thought without hesitation, “I wish humans never existed.” But what would she give in return? Valda’s answer was immediate: she’d give up anything, even her own children, if it meant she never had to face another human again.

Valda didn’t remember falling asleep, or waking up. She discovered she didn’t remember a lot of things. Suddenly she opened her eyes and found herself in a new forest, one she’d never seen before, and the colors were all wrong. Or at least, she thought they were. She wasn’t sure. The sounds were different, too, as if they were muted or muddied, but she didn’t know why that bothered her, either. Her thoughts were clouded and fuzzy, and she wondered if the darkness she felt shrouding her memories would ever lift.

It wasn’t until she tried standing up that Valda realized something else was wrong. She hobbled on the weird things strapped to her feet, which she realized after a long minute were coverings often worn by human women to be stylish. She couldn't remember what they were called, but she harbored an intense dislike of them immediately. In fact, she found as she inspected herself, that the sensation of bubbling unease would not leave her. Her skin felt odd, and part of her felt the need to scratch at it for no other reason than the discomfort of having it brought her. She couldn't fathom why she felt so distressed. It stayed like a rock in the pit of her stomach no matter what she did to appease it.

It took her a long time to figure out how to walk in the human feet-spikes. The cloth she was draped in was incredibly soft to the touch, but so heavy and hot that she found herself clawing out of the outfit as the danger of heatstroke drew uncomfortably close. She tossed the feet-spikes too (which she vaguely thought were called shoes), just for good measure, and shredded as much of the ensemble as she could with her meager human fingers (she kept the strange ear-pieces, however, if only because she found that she could hear much better once she pushed the little buttons on the sides). At that point, riveted with the thrill of destroying human things, Valda was quite suddenly taken by a glow of bright light. The instant comfort she felt in this new body and the natural grace she maneuvered with was almost as surprising, but Valda decided not to question it.

She spent three days in the forest, figuring out how to do human things in the human body once her Noivern form was forced back. The dress and its many accessories had returned upon shifting back, much to her annoyance. She had been contemplating on ripping it up again when she came across a little red and white ball sitting on a rock.

For whatever reason, the sight of the ball infuriated her more than the human clothes. She’d snatched the ball, intent on smashing it against the stone, when it suddenly popped open and a floating purple thing came bobbing out onto the wind around her. It called itself a Drifloon-- Flooey for short, it said-- and explained that the Pokeball Valda was holding was special. It plucked the Pokeball from her fingers when she insisted on its destruction and cradled the ball in its tiny tag-like feet, saying that its trainer had left it here, and it was waiting for her to come back. Valda scoffed, but didn’t care enough to convince the Drifloon otherwise. She left the Drifloon by the rock without further thought to its fate.

To her surprise, the next day she found the purple balloon floating nearby, humming and clutching its Pokeball. She told Valda, “I know she’s probably not coming back. Maybe she just can’t remember where she left my Pokeball. Do you think I could come along with you? Maybe we’ll come across her at some point and she’ll remember all the fun we had.”

Valda didn’t really care for company. The Drifloon was quiet, though, and didn’t give her much trouble. Besides, when Valda asked about something called a “Team Helix,” the ghost Pokemon seemed to know something or other about it. “My trainer used to talk about them,” Flooey had said. Then, after a moment of careful consideration, the balloon stretched out a stringy arm and held out her Pokeball to Valda. “Please don’t break it,” she implored, “but maybe you can hold onto this, for now? At least until we find my trainer.”

For some reason or another, Valda didn’t break it. Instead she shoved it down the neckline of the dress (where she found she could hold a few small items without too much difficulty) and muttered something about “don’t get in my way.” The Drifloon followed happily after her. They stayed together for another two days while Valda explored the forest.

On the night of her fifth day, Valda's dreams were accosted by a strange human woman and then a fleeting memory of a strangely colored Noibat hatching from an egg. The name "Vale" has haunted her ever since. She spent another three days traveling with Flooey until the Drifloon finally convinced Valda that she should enter the human city called Fastfall to find more information. Instead, Valda spent an entire day terrorizing the humans on the strange, fake scenery set up around the city until the resident gym leader chased her off with a Pokémon she'd never encountered before. Whatever it was, it made her head hurt, but at least she'd left behind a blazing car that shortly after exploded much sooner than the humans were expecting. It was a lovely surprise.

## Personality

Valda is not a terribly friendly individual. She covets her personal space more than anything else in her life, and is quick to retaliate if it is invaded. Her primary reaction to most things she doesn’t like-- which happens to be most things in general-- is aggression and hostility. She finds that most of her problems are solved if she beats the crap out of someone long enough. Although Valda is capable of caring about others and forming relationships, she’d prefer not to. In fact, part of her snide and judgmental facade helps keep her sequestered from others, because she feels the safest in isolation. She does have a softness for children, but she tends to ignore it whenever possible (unless they are her children-- then she becomes a hellion on steroids if someone so much as considers passing a threat their way). Valda is not a very sympathetic individual and often struggles with empathy for anyone, which is why most of the relationships she does manage to form often end shortly thereafter. She doesn’t trust very many people/Pokémon, and very possibly never will.

Most of all, she despises humans.

## Team

### Flooey

Flooey is a female Drifloon. She has a Gentle nature, the ability Aftermath, and the moves Shadow Ball, Ominous Wind, Calm Mind, and Shock Wave.