James Lord

> “Whatever it takes, we finish this together.”
>
> James, At the Unova League

## Overview

Though always smiling and seemingly confident, James at heart is unsure of himself or his place in the world. Although an introvert that is not the face he puts to the world, the only truth of his personality is a desire for adventure and exploration of the world. Having his pokémon alongside him help sure up his insecurities. It is in his nature to always help wherever he can.

## History

#### Early Life

Born in Wyndon, Galar. James was exposed to pokémon from a young age in no small part to his Grandparent's ownership of a pokémon day care centre on the outskirts of the city. He had dreams of exploring the world and meeting many pokemon and bring them back to show his grandparents, his desire being to show them a species that they'd have yet to have seen. When James was 8 however the company his father worked for transferred him to Castelia City in Unova resulting in his family's relocation to the region, with them settling in Nacrene City as his mother secured a job at one of the city's many museums.

At first, James struggled with the move to Unova, finding his new home's culture vastly different from the one he had grown up in. He also struggled with many picking up on his accent and having to explain that he had recently moved. That changed however when he discovered the nearby Pinwheel Forest which offered him a place to explore and observe the local pokémon with his brother. They soon began taking pictures of the area sending them to their grandparents in Galar who would send their own pictures back, it helped with the settling.

#### The Unova Adventure

On his tenth birthday, James was taken to the local pokémon centre where he was given the option of choosing between Snivy, Tepig or Oshawott. He picked the latter as his starter pokémon and collected his Pokédex before he returned home to introduce Oshawott to his family. That night he pulled out a map of the Unova region and the gyms and began plotting the route that he would take on his adventure and which gyms he'd challenge.

He decided upon challenging the Striaton City Gym first as it was the nearest gym and also the likely only time he'd visit the city otherwise. He began to make his way along Route 3, catching his first pokémon a Pidove along the way before he challenged the gym which went terribly, losing extremely quickly. He didn't take the defeat well withdrawing within himself for a couple of days, it was Oshawott who got him out of his slump by showing the training Oshawott and Pidove had done by fighting each other.

Motivated by the effort his Pokémon were making, he decided to take his team into the abandoned Dreamyard to train where they encountered a strange pink glow which on investigation turns out to be caused by the local Munna population and the power left over by whatever had caused the area to be abandoned. James decided to leave the Dreamyard and its inhabitants behind instead moving on to train on Route 2.

After time training on Route 2, James returned to the Striaton City Gym and challenged it. After another tough battle this time he walked away victorious and collected the Trio Badge. James then made his way back towards Nacrene City proudly showing off his badge to his family as he returned home.

It wasn't long before he set out again this time for Castelia City, James finally able to explore the Pinwheel Forest as a trainer he was extremely keen to catch a bug type from the forest, ideally, one that he had sent a picture of to his grandparents. Near the end of the forest, James witnessed a fight between a Pansear and Venipede with the Pansear taking the upper hand until the Venipede used poison sting resulting in Pansear's poisoning. Using Pidove to chase the Venipede away, James treated the Pansear and once back to full strength decided to join James' team.

When he arrived in Castelia City, instead of going straight to the gym. James went to explore the city seeing the sites, trying in vain to also get a hold of a Casteliacone. On making his way to the gym, he challenged it and after a difficult battle coming out on top thanks to his new Pansear. With the Insect Badge now secured he made his way to the docks and took a ferry over towards Virbank City and the next leg of his journey.

#### Meeting Celine

Shortly after arriving in Virbank City, James received a message on his Xtransiver from his mother who told him that his grandparents wanted to ensure a gift would be delivered to him at the next pokémon centre. The gift turned out to be a pokémon egg which was his grandparent's gift of congratulations for beating his first gym and their hope whatever the egg would hatch into would help him on his ongoing journey. Taking the egg under his care, James continued on his journey and challenged the Virbank Gym securing himself the Toxic Badge.

He left Virbank City for Aspertia City travelling along Route 20 and 19, en route James catching a Deerling bringing the number of pokémon he had to 5 (once the egg had hatched). On Route 20 James encountered a girl who had just successfully caught herself a Swaddle, introducing herself as Celine she explained she was on a pokemon journey to discover herself and what she could do in the world, as she was headed for Aspertia City the two agreed to travel to the city together.

#### Chasing the Badges

On arriving in Aspertia City James immediately went to challenge the gym for the basic badge and with the help of Deerling, Pansear and his now evolved Tranquil was successful. Although having completed his goal in the town, he stayed at Celine's insistence as there was a festival within the town in a few days time and she hoped that maybe she could glean something from it. James agreed although he did not enjoy the festival finding it extremely tedious however Celine announced as a result of watching a Pokemon Musical performance that she wanted to travel to Nimbassa City and take part in a musical.

The two agreed to travel together further and as they made their way back towards Virbank City to catch the ferry, James' egg hatched into a Zoura who quickly set about making mischief for James and his pokemon completely changing the dynamic of his team. Zoura's illusion ability being a particular annoyance to handle.

Eventually reaching the desert route of Route 4, James and Celine struggled to make their way through the region and on more than one occasion becoming lost among the sandstorms. Had it not been for a kindly Dwebble that seemed to take pity on the pair, they would have not made their way through the route and to Nimbassa City. However once within the city, they found that the Dwebble was following them, as a result, Celine caught Dwebble adding it to her team.

James and Celine then spilt up with the former going to challenge the gym and the later headed for the pokemon musical theatre, both giving the other their Xtranseiver codes. Pansear, Deerling and Oshawott ensured James winning the Bolt badge, although it was the closest battle James had fought since his defeat when attempting the Trio badge for the first time, given he had no advantages over the gym type. Before he departed Nimbassa City he visited Celine at the theatre wishing her luck with her new goal.

#### Western Unova

Now on his own again, James quickly made his way to Driftveil City to challenge Clay at the gym but found that the gym was closed as there was a pressing issue that needed taking care of. He decided instead to visit the nearby season research lab as he knew that Deerling changed with seasons and perhaps they'd be able to tell him more about it. On arrival, he learned more about Deerling and their evolution Sawsbuck and in addition to this, he learned the gender of his Deerling.

When he returned to Driftveil City he found that the gym was once again open, James immediately when to challenge Clay and was victorious with thanks to Oshawott, Tranquil and the now evolved Sawsbuck. Now with 6 of the 8 gym badges, he'd need to challenge the Unova League, James contacted home to tell them and ask them which gyms would be best for him to challenge as he wanted gyms that would push him to be a stronger trainer for the league. On the advice of his father, James decided to challenge the Mistralton City Pokemon Gym and the Opelucid City Pokemon Gym for the Jet and Legend badge respectively.

Getting to Mistralton City, however, would be a challenge as he would need to make his way through Chargestone Cave and remembering his difficulties with Route 4 began to plan for a potential alternative route that wouldn't cause him as much difficulty, but he soon found that no other route existed. With no other choice, he pushed through the cave, feeling extremely uncomfortable as he went through it as if he was being watched. Nearing the end he was ambushed by a Galvantula that quickly incapacitated Oshawott, thankfully however Pansear stepped forward to protect his trainer and repay the debt for saving his life from the Venipede back in Pinwheel Forest.

Heading straight to a pokemon centre when he arrived in Mistralton City, James waited for Oshawott to be healed but noticed that Pansear kept looking over towards a Fire Stone that was being used for decoration in the building, taking it as a sign that Pansear wanted to evolve James promised the fire type that before they challenged the league he'd get a hold of the stone for him. With Oshawott recovered and the rest of the team feeling strong James went to challenge the gym. Zoura making his gym battle debut along with Pansear and the now evolved Unfezant gave James his Jet Badge.

#### The Legend Badge

With one gym badge needed before he'd be able to challenge the Unova League, James began to plan how he could challenge Drayden as none of his pokemon would have an advantage over the Dragon type specialist. Knowing that ice types and moves were strong against Dragon types, James set out for Icirrus City where the Ice Type Gym once stood and hoped perhaps someone within the city would be able to teach his pokemon something that might give him an edge over the gym leader.

Arriving in the city, James found the Pokemon Fan Club and asked if anyone there would be able to help him. A travelling trainer named Oskar offered his assistance and said he and his Beartic would be able to teach Oshawott Ice Beam. Training with Oskar taught James a lot about Dark Types and how use the Ice type to overcome Dragon Types and Oshawott was successful in learning Ice Beam, when asking what he could offer in return Oskar only smiled saying that winning the Legend Badge would be enough.

Also whilst in Icirrus City James came across an evolution stone vendor and purchased the Fire Stone that Pansear would need to evolve. When giving the fire monkey the Fire Stone it was overjoyed and quickly took it evolving into Simisear. Prior to leaving to challenge his next gym, he decided to visit the legendary Dragonspiral Tower and see the oldest building in Unova inside the grounds of the landmark James caught the final member of his team a Golett.

With everything he felt he needed James set out for Opelucid City to claim the final badge he needed. As he travelled he began to consider beyond Oshawott which other of his pokemon he would use to challenge the gym, perhaps Simisear and allow the pokemon to test its new strength but it still left him with one pokemon short until Zoura lived up to its mischievous nature making use of its illusion to scare some of the local pokemon. It was decided.

When James arrived in Opelucid City, he checked into the Pokemon Centre and caught up with his family as well as Celine expressing his nerves and excitement about achieving his 8th and final badge. Composing himself James went to challenge the gym the next morning, the battle was long and hard, and despite Simisear's newfound power it was looking like a lost cause, an evolved Zoroark helped bring the battle back to an even state but soon Oshawott stood alone. Yet thanks to the Ice Beam at his disposal Oshawott found victory for James and gained him the Legend Badge. Having achieved his goal in the city and taking a couple of days to recover, he stood ready to challenge the league.

#### The Unova League

With 8 badges, James made his way towards the Pokémon League ready to take part in the tournament. James found the tournament extremely difficult and while he made it past the first round, he was knocked out early on, only making it to the Top 16. He was disappointed with his performance but was proud of the work of his team, but on this occasion, he and they were not strong enough. While he now no longer had a goal within the Unova region, there were a great many places he had yet to visit within the region and so after his time away he'd be back out on the road.

#### After the League

His time within the league had taught him much and reminded him of his early days after his defeat trying to get the Trio badge, he wasn't invincible nor was he the world's greatest trainer and that was ok. Whilst packing up his belongings to head home, he heard that the old Pokemon World Tournament in Driftveil City was opening up to trainers to compete in tournaments for fun. He changed his mind and made Driftveil City his destination although he'd take the long way round, after all, he had the entirety of eastern Unova to visit and explore.

He first arrived in Humilau City, home to the one gym he hadn't battled to secure his way into the league for a time he considered challenging the gym for old time sakes but soon changed his mind enjoying the more relaxed style and experiencing a culture which he had never seen before. He didn't linger long however making his way through the Marine Tube, particularly. enjoying Oshawott's reactions to being both underwater and not wet.

James did, however, spend a lot of time within Undella Town, taking the time there with his pokemon to relax and truly enjoy the beach. No battling, no pressure if they wanted to spend the entire day asleep they could. After their long journey having time without events was a welcomed change, they did, however, leave eventually making their way through Reversal Mountain to reach Lentimas Town and board a plane to return to the western side of Unova.

Soon enough James arrived at the Pokemon World Tournament site and began actively taking part in the tournaments with his beloved team at his side. For a long time, he was happy there relishing the challenge and seeing it as a larger extension of how the beginning of his journey was, never quite knowing what was coming next. During his time at the World Tournament site, his Golett evolved into Golurk.

#### The Adventure Ends

After some time of battling at the Pokemon World Tournament, James became bored and the spark of adventure he had once had fizzled out. He had briefly considered taking part in the Battle Subway however without another trainer he could rely on, he truly didn't see the point of competing. He visited the Pokemon Musical Theatre to see Celine however found that she had gone on a tour of the Kalos region and would not be back for a few months yet. James knew the adventure was over, there was little point extending it any further.

James returned to his home in Nacrene City where he settled into a life that didn't give him much joy. He worked with his mother in the museum and tried to entertain the bored children being dragged around by their parents. He'd tell them of the adventure he had within Unova and of the many pokémon he encountered, each time he spoke about it the more he began to smile as he reflected on the fun he used to have.

#### Moving back to Galar

Not long after his brother set off on his journey, James' father's company had asked him to relocate back to Galar, Wyndon specifically. His mother not happy with leaving their youngest son behind in the region asked if James would set off after him and bring him home so they could once again move back to Galar. James did find his brother, not too far north from Nuvema Town and brought him back to their home in Nacrene City. Making it difficult his brother said that he wanted to explore Unova and experience the region he had now spent most of his life in. After a family friend agreed to help his brother if he got stuck the rest of the Lords returned to Galar.

When James arrived in Wyndon after helping his parents settle, he was eager to help out how he could with the daycare and enjoyed letting his pokemon relax and have fun away from battling and from the road. However seeing the effect of the short journey to retrieve his brother had on him, the family worked to ensure that James would once again go out onto the road. Learning from an influx of trainers that a region on the other side of the world called Korenn would be starting their league season again and how James had interacted well with the pokemon from the region. A wild goose chase was established to send James to the region to collect data from the regional professor which the day care would need to care for the Korennian pokemon which had started appearing.

#### The Korenn Saga

Departing from Hulbury, James and Oshawott boarded the SS Spikemuth headed for the Korennian town called Antise Shore to collect this data they were sent for. Although he knew that there was more to his going to Korenn than simply to do an errand, although he was unable to work out quite what his family had been planning behind the scenes.

On arrival in the Korennian City of Antise Shore, James and Oshawott quickly found themselves in a busy city with no knowledge of where to go. After taking the casualty of losing his hat, James ended up in the Fable Café, which was a café and also the local gym. He met one of the owners Maya who quickly took him under her wing and helped him get the data he needed, they also rescued a trapped Emcub and James caught a Rowlet who came to assist them in their efforts. Soon after Maya helped James secure a match against Drew the gym leader, who happened to also be her brother. After a tough match, James came out victorious and was not only given his gym badge but also entrusted with an egg by Drew and Maya's grandmother Judy. Accompanied by Maya, her trusted Ralts and her new Emcub the two of them began to journey together in Korenn.

## Physical Appearance

James stands at 5'11" and can often be found with his Oshawott on one of his shoulders. On his arrival to the Korenn region he lost his once trademark backward cap and so now his somewhat unkept dirty blonde hair is on show. He is most commonly found wearing his maroon and blue jacket as well as ash grey trousers. Over his shoulder is his backpack which if he wore it differently could pass for a satchel.

## Personality

At heart James is an introvert, he is happier watching a room and observing than he is being the centre of attention. It is one of the reasons he hates having battles in front of an audience, although he is slowly starting to make progress towards his aversion to it. With his pokemon he is kind and patient and likes working with them to become stronger, not just in terms of power but unlocking what makes them unique. Given his place of birth James prides himself on his manners and will always try and be polite, if he isn't at least attempting to be polite then something has gone horribly wrong.

## Relationships

### Maya Rosenthal

Maya was the first person James met in the Korenn region and has quickly become his travelling partner around the region. Due to her connections through her family she offers him lots of advice on Korenn and its culture which he finds invaluable. He wants to repay Maya by helping her find what she wants to get out of life instead of living in her brother's shadow.

## Theme

https://soundcloud.com/retro\_specter/vs-gym-leader-remix-pokemon-blackwhite

## Trivia

* Excluding Oshawott, all of James' team members were chosen by random.
* The reason James loses his hat is meant to represent a new beginning and the start of a new journey.
* Originally James was going to be a research assistant to Professor Blossom, but due to the lack of trainers in the RP that was changed.