Skyler

**Skyler** (Japanese: **スカイラー** *Sukaira*) is a Pokémon Trainer hailed from Ecruteak City in the Johto region.

## **New Era**

### **Background**

According to Skyler herself, she was once groomed to become a Kimono Girl, but she never had any interest in it, and enjoyed archery instead, and begin practicing in secret in-between her Kimono Girl classes. However, when her parents discovered her secret, she was given an ultimatum: drop her archery fanatics and continue her Kimono Girl classes, or keep her archery training but be "exiled" from the family. Despite being heartbroken at the possibility of being disowned, Skyler chose the latter and abandoned her family and hometown to embark on her journey, wanting the freedom to do whatever she pleases.

### **Johto Journey**

Skyler first appears whilst she and her Chikorita are battling a wild Wooper. Chikorita's first Tackle misses its target, but the next attack knocks Wooper out. The young Trainer sees her opportunity and pulls out her bow and arrow, places a Poké Ball at the tip and shoots it towards the Wooper, successfully catching it.

When she turns around, she sees Dwayne and becomes flustered and falls flat on her back. Dwayne asks if she was alright, and Skyler asks why he was watching her, and calls him a pervert. Dwayne becomes beet red, and apologizes, and says that he came across her battle and was simply curious as to whether she could catch the Wooper or not. However, Skyler laughs and says she was only joking, much to Dwayne's relief. Skyler introduces herself and wWhen Dwayne praises her archery skills and inovative catching manner, Skyler explains her backstory to him.

Dwayne says he was sorry for Skyler's situation, but Skyler says that she had already gotten over it, and admits that she felt happier now than she ever did with her family. Skyler then asks whether Dwayne was challenging the Johto League, which he confirms, prompting Skyler to challenge him to a battle. Dwayne first asks her how long she's been on her journey, and Skyler says that she's been on her own for a month. Dwayne then warns her that his Pokémon might be a little too experienced for her, but Skyler says that she didn't care, she just wanted to battle.

Dwayne relents and accepts her challenge. Skyler asks for a two-on-two battle and sends out her newly-caught Wooper to battle against Kirlia. Wooper uses Water Gun, but Kirlia easily dodges. Skyler then orders Wooper to use Water Gun again, but this time, Kirlia responds with Psybeam, which easily overpowers Water Gun and scores a direct hit, knocking out Wooper. Skyler recalls Wooper and sends out her Chikorita, who quickly goes in the offensive with Razor Leaf, but Kirlia uses Teleport to dodge the attack. Chikorita then uses Vine Whip, wrapping it around Kirlia's arm. However, Kirlia reels Chikorita in with her sheer physical superiority and knocks out Chikorita with a single Shadow Ball.

Skyler recalls Chikorita and drops to her knees, astonished at her easy loss. Dwayne recalls Kirlia and apologizes to Skyler, but Skyler begins crying aloud, saying that Dwayne was a liar and he was too powerful for her, and Dwayne begins frantically apologizing, but Skyler immediately stops crying and sticks her tongue out, saying that she was only joking again, much to Dwayne's comical frustration. Skyler says that if she cried everytime she lost a battle, she should've never become a Pokémon Trainer to begin with. Skyler then shoots a inoffensive arrow at Dwayne, who questions her sudden antics, and Skyler jokes by saying that she "caught" a new friend. Dwayne laughs and says that Skyker was rather quirky, and Skyler chuckles, saying she would take it as a compliment. Both Trainers shake hands before heading off their separate ways, promising to battle again the next time they met.

Skyler and Dwayne met up again during the Bug-Catching Contest at the National Park, where both Trainers were set to participate. During the contest, Skyler snatches a Weedle that Dwayne was seconds away from capturing, ignoring Dwayne's protest that he saw it first. Skyler orders Chikorita to start attacking trees and manages to knock some wild Pineco out of their hiding spots. After a short battle, Chikorita manages to defeat them and the two continue on their way.

Elsewhere, Skyler notices Chikorita lagging behind, still tired from its previous battles. Still wanting to win she tells it not to give up, and the pair continues their hunt. They soon encounter a Scyther. Despite Chikorita's obvious exhaustion, Skyler orders it to attack and the tired Pokémon soon finds itself in a battle it can't win. At the last moment, Dwayne appears with Kirlia and saves Chikorita. He yells at Skyler for being an irresponsible Trainer then lures the Scyther away so that she and Chikorita can rest. Not wanting to listen to him, Skyler tries to encourage Chikorita, only to realize that it has run away. Chikorita hides in a bush, and tries to cheer it up, and Skyler stumbles upon it a moment later. She calls Chikorita over to her but is surprised to find that it refuses to listen to her. Skyler then realizes Chikorita is refusing to obey because she'd ignored Chikorita's feelings, and made it fight until it collapsed. Realizing her mistake, Skyler tearfully apologizes to Chikorita, who joyfully jumps into her arms.

Later, Skyler and Chikorita become trapped within a large forest fire, caused by a participant's Charmeleon using Flamethrower recklessly. Scyther attempts to save them, but some trees are falling, and block its path. Scyther then uses X-Scissor to cut up some of the trees, but Scyther can't do anything as more trees are burning and falling. Skyler sees a falling, flaming, branch, and grabs Chikorita and jumps out of the way, although Skyler's leg gets burned as she wasn't able to move away in time. Seeing this, Chikorita frantically tries to help its Trainer, but Skyler's burn proves too much for her to handle and she can't walk properly because of the pain. As Kirlia and Scyther struggle with the fire, Skyler's Chikorita suddenly evolves into Bayleef and uses Body Slam to cause sand to erupt and put out the fire, and Skyler marvels at seeing her Bayleef saving her. Seeing how Bayleef was handling itself, Kirlia and Scyther then decide to work together to save the Bug-type Pokémon, and they successfully manage to rescue a group of Caterpie, Pineco, Venonat, Ledyba, and Spinarak from the fire, and Bayleef successfully manages to take Skyler away from the fire, just as the Bug-Catching Contest's officials come with several Water-type Pokémon to put out the fire.

After checking to see if the area was clear, the contest gets resumed, and Scyther and Kirlia decide to settle their battle once and for all. Skyler sits down with Bayleef, aware that her injury would prevent her from continuing and simply decides to cheer Dwayne and Kirlia on. When the contest comes to an end, Dwayne emerges victorious, while Skyler pouts after finishing in last place. Skyler then shows up and congratulates Dwayne on his victory, and Dwayne also congratulates Skyler on her Chikorita's evolution, but Skyler says that she shouldn't get any credit, because she ignored Chikorita's feelings, and she was an awful Trainer. Dwayne says that she wasn't a bad Trainer, and says that all Trainers make mistakes, and all that matters is to learn from them. Skyler holds back tears as she thanks Dwayne for his words of encouragement, and Dwayne tells her it was a pleasure, and they subsequently part ways.

Shortly before the start of the Silver Conference, Skyler meets up with Dwayne again while she was looking for a wild Elekid, and upon discovering that Dwayne's Misdreavus had separated from Dwayne and was with Elekid, both Trainers agree to find Elekid together. During their walk, Elekid overhears Misdreavus's stomach grumbling. It promptly fetches some apples from a nearby tree and hands one to Misdreavus. As Misdreavus goes to nibble gently, Elekid shows it how to take a real bite. The small gesture instantly makes Misdreavus feel at ease. However, the two are discovered by the angry pack of Ursaring. Elekid tries to defend them with Thunder Shock, but the strategy fails as Ursaring easily shake off the attack. Misdreavus resorts to Screeching, and the ear-splitting noise alerts Dwayne and Skyler to their location, where they witness Elekid and Misdreavus being attacked. Skyler has her Meganium use Solar Beam on the Ursaring, who finally feel some level of damage. The Ursaring are infuriated and begin charging up an Earthquake. Skyler orders Meganium to use Vine Whip, and sends the Ursaring flying off. Dwayne and Skyler rush towards Elekid and Misdreavus, and the latter happily jumps into Dwayne's arms, happy to be reunited with her Trainer.

After the two reunite with Elekid and Misdreavus, Skyler battles Elekid with her Meganium. Elekid uses its Thunder Punch attack to fend off Meganium's Razor Leaf attack. Meganium then Body Slams Elekid before landing a direct Solar Beam on it. Elekid falls backwards and Skyler pitches a Poké Ball at her target. Elekid enters the Ball, and after a few sways, Elekid is officially caught. As Skyler holds up her newly caught Pokémon, Misdreavus is feeling sad. Skyler assures Misdreavus that she will look after Elekid, which instantly cheers up the Screech Pokémon. Skyler then asks Dwayne whether he's already obtained eight Badges, which Dwayne confirms, and Skyler says that she, too, earned eight Badges and says that they'll meet again at the Johto League before waving Dwayne goodbye.

Skyler later successfully qualifies for the Silver Conference, and advances through the screening rounds, and she gets placed in a group of three in a round-robin tournament, where each Trainer battles the two others—with three points for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. The Trainer with the most points in the group stage will move on to the Victory Tournament, with Skyler being grouped with Dwayne and Sydney, with Skyler and Dwayne battling against each other first. When their battle kicks off, Skyler sends out her Quagsire, while Dwayne responds with Misdreavus. The battle begins with an exchange of Ice Beam and Shadow Ball. Skyler changes tactics and tells Quagsire to use Double Team to evade Misdreavus's attacks. It works for a moment, and Quagsire hits Misdrevus with a Blizzard. Skyler orders another round of Double Team, but Misdreavus manages to hit Quagsire with a Power Gem. At this point, Skyler switches Quagsire for Electabuzz, with Dwayne surprised at how Elekid had evolved so soon since their last meeting. Anticipating this, Dwayne pulls out Misdreavus for Roserade. Skyler commands an Electro Ball, but Roserade easily brushes it off. With Electabuzz perfectly countered, Skyler recalls it and sends Quagsire back out. Dwayne leaves Roserade in and uses Petal Dance and Bullet Seed in quick succession. Quagsire retaliates with Hydro Pump, but Roserade blocks it with Power Whip. Roserade also dodges Quagsire's Ice Beam, and uses a powerful Poison Jab to defeat Quagsire once and for all.

Skyler then sends out her Meganium next, and Roserade starts off with Poison Jab, but it is countered with Solar Beam, followed by Body Slam. Roserade's attempt at a Power Whip is met with another Body Slam, which knocks Roserade out of the battle. Dwayne calls out Misdreavus once again, while Skyler selects her Electabuzz for the upper hand, and both Pokémon nod to each other, agreeing to go all-out against each other despite their friendship. Misdreavus begins with a Shock Wave, but Electabuzz blocks it off with Light Screen. Misdreavus's Confuse Ray manages to break through, however, but nevertheless, Electabuzz's Thunder Punch successfully hits despite its confusion, and Misdreavus gets knocked out, and Electabuzz's confusion wears off afterwards.

Now down two Pokémon, Dwayne is forced to send out his Heracross. As Skyler prepares to strike Heracross with an Electro Ball, Heracross hits its mark with an Arm Thrust. Skyler is left startled for a moment, though she soon goes on the attack. Heracross evades a series of Thunder Punches and hits again with Fury Attack, which Electabuzz blocks with Iron Tail. A second Iron Tail hits Heracross, and Skyler tries to finish it off with a Thunder Punch. However, Heracross, out of the air, hits a Megahorn onto Electabuzz's wrist, which causes the Thunder Punch to redirect itself onto Electabuzz's face, sending him flying backwards, before Heracross finishes it off with a vicious Double-Edge.

The match is now down to Meganium and Heracross, with momentum back on Dwayne's side. Heracross opens with a Megahorn, which Meganium counters with Razor Leaf and Vine Whip. Heracross responds to the Vine Whip with Arm Thrust. The attacks collide, creating an opening for a Double-Edge to hit Meganium. Another Megahorn attack is met with a Razor Leaf, which sends Heracross reeling, with Heracross ending up on its back. As Heracross struggles to get back up, Meganium sees an opening and rushes in for a finishing Body Slam. In a last-minute move, Heracross slams his horn into the ground and uses his sheer force to toss large amounts of dust onto Meganium, whose Body Slam cancels because of the dust, and Heracross defeats Meganium with a super-effective Megahorn, and Dwayne wins the match. Skyler walks over to Valeria and congratulates him on the victory, and Dwayne says that Skyler battled wonderfully, and both Trainers shake hands.

During the second match of Group H in the Silver Conference, Skyler faces off against Sydney, the group's third competitor. Though Skyler is ready, Sydney is more prepared to showboat than battle, saying hello to her friends and family to one of the stadium cameras. The three-on-three match gets well underway, and soon it is down to a winner-takes-all situation with Skyler's Electabuzz and Sydney's Poliwhirl battling for the victory. Sydney's showboating gets to the better of her, as she trips over her own foot issuing orders to Poliwhirl, leaving Poliwhirl standing as it takes an Electro Ball. This, combined with Skyler's Meganium's Razor Leaf from an earlier round, seals the match for Skyler. As Dwayne watches from the stands, he notes that Skyler saved herself from elimination by winning, which also means that he and Skyler are tied at the top of Group H. He also realizes he will only need a tie against Sydney in order to advance, while Sydney must win outright to force a three-way tie. Ultimately, Dwayne defeats Sydney, eliminating both Skyler and Sydney from the competition.

## **Character**

Skyler is an energetic and somewhat hyperactive Pokémon Trainer. She's also playful and somewhat mischievous, oftentimes telling outrageous jokes without any second thought, seen during her first meeting with Dwayne, when she accused him of being a pervert by watching her battle, but after seeing Dwayne frantically explain himself, she revealed she was merely joking.

She also enjoys tricking others with her emotions, crying aloud after losing a battle to Dwayne, saying that Dwayne was a liar and he was too powerful for her, and after Dwayne begins apologizing, Skyler immediately stops crying and sticks her tongue out, saying that she was only joking again, much to Dwayne's comical frustration.

Skyler can also allow her emotions to cloud her judgement, seen as when she was pushing her Chikorita to keep up with her whilst chasing a Scyther during the Bug-Catching Contest, unaware of how much pressure she was putting on Chikorita, and after being called out and scolded by Dwayne for doing so, Skyler broke down in genuine tears, apologizing to Chikorita, who immediately forgave her.

Skyler is a master of archery, having nobody to match her skill. With her signature bow and arrow, Skyler shoots her Poké Balls onto wild Pokémon as her manner of catching. She also occasionally uses it to prank others, shooting inoffensive arrows onto them as a sign of friendship.

## **Pokémon**

### **On Hand**

Meganium is Skyler's starter Pokémon, having obtained him as a Chikorita. He first appeared battling a wild Wooper, and soundly defeated the Water-type Pokémon. He evolved into Bayleef during the Bug-Catching Contest to save Skyler from a forest fire, and was shown to have evolved again prior to the start of the Silver Conference.

Quagsire's known moves are Water Gun, Ice Beam, Double Team, and Blizzard.

Electabuzz first appeared as a wild Elekid who stole some of Dwayne's food, and was later attacked by an angry pack of Ursaring, whom Elekid had previously stolen food from. However, Elekid was saved by Dwayne and Skyler, with the latter battling and ultimately capturing the Electric-type Pokémon. Not too long afterwards, Elekid evolved into Electabuzz.

## **Achievements**

### **Badges Obtained**

#### **Johto Badges**

This listing is of the Badges Skyler has obtained in the Johto region:

* Hive Badge
* Plain Badge
* Fog Badge
* Plain Badge
* Zephyr Badge
* Mineral Badge
* Rising Badge
* Storm Badge

## **Pokémon League**

Skyler has competed in the following Pokémon League Conferences:

* Silver Conference – Top 48

## **Pokémon Competitions**

Skyler has competed in the following Pokémon competitions:

* Bug-Catching Contest – Last Place