Avril Morris

Robin Morris (Sister)

Avril Morris is one of the graduate students of the Aquacorde City Pokémon Academy and a main character of Z: A Kalos Journey. She is written by Carnivore Chie.

## Background

Avril was born in the Unova region, spending the first five years of her life in Nimbasa City. She is the second of two daughters. During their time in Nimbasa, her mother worked at a nurse at the local pokémon center while her father made his career as an official trainer. Avril's older sister seemed to be set to follow in her father's footsteps as a pokémon trainer as well. Avril herself never really displayed much interest in being a trainer from an early age, so more often than not she was left in her mother's care.

Shortly after Avril turned five years old, the girl found her family relocating to the Kalos region. This was because Avril's sister had been enrolled into the prestigious Santalune Pokémon Academy. Due to her father's tutelage, Avril's sister showed extreme promise as a pokémon trainer. She always seemed to show extreme promise in the various fields of study offered at the academy, which tended to earn her much favor among those her own age. This favor seemed to also generate from adults, in particular, Avril's own parents. Because of this, Avril began to feel slightly neglected and slighted which caused a sort of rivalry to form between the two girls. Avril began to desire to enter the academy much like her older sister did, but her parents seemed to be adamantly against it. Being a child who never really showed much interest in being a trainer up to that point, both her mother and father felt it would be a waste of money to enroll Avril in the Santalune City Pokémon Academy. Instead, her mother felt the life of a pokémon center nurse was more up the younger child's alley.

As she continued to grow, Avril's desire to be noticed and surpass her older sister only seemed to grow. Every passing year, Avril would constantly demand to be allowed to attend the academy so she could become a trainer much like her sister. This desire caused a rift to form between the child and her mother, which resulted in the two more often than not always being in heated arguments with each other. Eventually, Avril had had enough. Throughout the years, she had managed to save up enough money to enroll within the new pokémon academy located in Aquacorde City. Tired of constantly being held to a different standard than her sister, Avril snuck off on the eve of her fifteenth birthday, wherein she enrolled in the academy to become a certified trainer. Her goal was simple. She planned to graduate the academy, become a pokémon trainer, and complete the Kalos League Gym Challenge. She would then chronicle her journey within the pages of a well-crafted novel. Avril decided that then, and only then, would she truly feel vindicated and freed from her sister's shadow.

## Personality

Initially at the start of the story, Avril was a very easy-going and rather upbeat girl. She had vivid dreams and aspirations of becoming an author, using her journey across Kalos as a focal point in which to create an epic narrative that would chronicle her adventures across the region to becoming the new champion of the Kalos region. A friendly girl by default, she was always open to the idea of meeting new people and forming bonds of friendship with those she happened to come across, whether they be completely new people or those she may have previously met during her time at the academy or while passing through the many towns and routes of Kalos. She had a tendency to be quite naive about things in life. Whether this was on account of her rather bubbly and optimistic outlook or just a strange decision to try and be unaware of the darker side of life is unknown. Avril also used to have a tendency to slip into daydreams, usually fantasizing about the twists and turns that she would experience on her way to becoming the new Kalos League champion or of interesting plot-twists in regard to her progressing novel. A lot of this changed during her first visit to Lumiose City, in which Avril received several wake-up calls all at once.

It was during this time that she truly began to get a view at just how ugly humanity can be in general. The events of Lumiose, ranging from being forced to watch Drew Tucker's Chespin fight against several feral Eevee and her utter defeat at the hands of visiting Sinnohan gym leader Volkner to watching a man literally burned alive and Shino's nearly fatal gunshot at the hands of Gabriel Artece caused Avril to more or less shred off this innocent nature, becoming somewhat cold and bitter. She began to resent how weak and naive she really was and began to feel like a failure at being a trainer for allowing Shino to be wounded in such a manner. The events caused her to abandon her dreams of becoming a famous author, viewing her progressing work as nothing more than a pack of lies. Avril also began to deal with her insecurities of being worthless when constantly compared with others, such as her sister and even her best friend, Emma Kuzunoha. This put a strain on the latter relationship, causing the blonde to constantly lash out her for what she felt like was the detective's constant holding of her achievements and progression of her own career as a trainer over Avril's. She also began to desire extracting her revenge against Gabriel Artece for what he did to Shino, as seen when she forced Jackson Crane to share his contact information with her via holocaster so that if he ever found himself heading to deal with the man that she'd be able to tag along.

As of the events in Ambrette Town, Avril has managed to mend her relationship with Emma. While she is not the same girl she was at the start of the journey and still wants vengeance against Gabriel and Team Cinder, Avril has begun to try to and make herself into a stronger and more well-rounded person, if only to help make those now far off dreams more of a reality once more.

## Physical Appearance

Avril stands at a height of 5'6" and sports a rather fair skin complexion. Her platinum blonde hair is kept long and usually is left down where it easily reaches her lower back. It is offset quite nicely by her sapphire-blue eyes. Avril keeps a rather slim figure, one that she can attribute to being quite active, both in her youth and now. In terms of clothing, Avril likes to dress rather simply. She usually wears baggy or longer shirts and tank tops that can easily double as dresses. These are offset by black leggings and a pair of boots can usually be found on her feet. No matter what outfit she chooses to wear, Avril is never seen without her beloved red scarf and black stocking cap, both of which were ironically gifts from her father. Avril keeps all of her various trainer supplies in a green shoulder bag.

During the events of Ambrette Town, Avril decides to give herself a makeover with the assistance of Victoria Levigne. This included the removal of her scarf in favor of a necklace and trading out her shirt dress and leggings look for denim shorts and various tops including halters and tanks. During this makeover, Avril also cut her hair much shorter than it had been, as it now only manages to just reach her shoulders and is more layered in look. While her hat remained the same style, the color of its design was swapped to match closer to the new color schemes of her new clothing.

## The Journey

### Act One - Origin

The beginning of the journey finds Avril Morris fresh out of the graduation ceremony of Aquacorde Town. Avril was eager to begin her journey as a pokémon trainer, both to prove herself to her family and the world and to achieve her goal of writing a magnificent story that would chronicle her journey across the region. Her journey began on Avance Trail, where she along with another trainer, discovered a pack of Bunnelby that were being tormented by a wild Usaring. Though clearly outmatched on her own and reluctant to try and take on a wild pokémon that was fully evolved, Avril managed to be convinced by the trainer that if they teamed up, they would be able to defeat such a powerful adversary. Sure enough, the combined efforts of Shino and the trainer's Elekid were more than enough to drive the wild Usaring off. As a reward for the trainers' efforts, the wild Bunnelby presented the duo with some evolution-related stones. Avril received a Leaf Stone for her and Shino's brave deeds. After parting ways with the trainer, Avril made her way into Santalune Forest.

The events of Santalune Forest provided the budding trainer with another trial to overcome. While many others were dealing with a spreading forest fire and the rising of Team Cinder, Avril found herself locked into a territorial battle. It all began when she encountered a wild Hoothoot within the forest, the girl planning on making the bird pokémon her first official capture as a trainer. The wild Hoothoot refused capture however, becoming quite agitated when Avril attempted to capture her with a pokéball. The Hoothoot and Shino engaged in a brief battle before the wild owl pokémon suddenly fled from the scene after the faint cries of baby Hoothoot reached her. Curious about the situation, Avril found herself following behind the Hoothoot. She soon discovered that the Hoothoot was in fact a mother and was trying to protect her nest and her young until they were ready to leave of their own accord. The nest of her young was currently under attack by a trio of wild pokémon, including a Panpour, Pansage, and Pansear. While the Hoothoot was strong, the damage she had received during her previous battle with Shino made it difficult to fend off the trio of elemental monkey pokémon. At great risk to themselves, Avril and Shino joined in the battle to aid the owl pokémon. Shino began to fight the trio on his own, while Avril took the Hoothoot to treat her wounds with a potion. After rejoining the fight, the Hoothoot and Shino managed to fend off the attackers. Her young finally left the nest shortly after, and as a reward the Hoothoot joined up with Avril on her journey under the nickname of Anise.

The realization as to what else had transpired in Santalune Forest would not dawn on Avril until she reached the city of Santalune proper. It was here that the trainer learned of fire that ravaged the forest and of the destruction that it truly caused, being responsible for the loss of lives of both human and pokémon alike. Avril began to wonder if her actions in the battle against the Pansage and its friends had caused the monkeys to die in the flames as well. It was during this time that Avril learned of an adoption program that was underway for various pokémon that had lost their trainers as a result of the forest fire. Feeling compelled to try and make a difference on account of her ignorance of the situation proper, Avril volunteered to adopt one of the now trainerless pokémon. She came into possession of a rather stubborn and disrespectful Mudbray that she would call Benjamin.

With her team now up to three members, Avril decided to some sightseeing around Santalune City. One of her destinations was that of the city's famous fountain, but the girl was soon repulsed at the discovery that a wild Muk had come to make the fountain its home. Angry that the poisonous sludge pokémon was getting in the way of her tour, Avril took it upon herself to try and evict the Muk from its newly acquired home. While Shino and Anise were unable to make much of a dent in the wild pokémon's defense, Benjamin was able to handily defeat it. Of course, this did not happen through Avril's orders in battle initially. Rather, the Mudbray only began to attack the wild Muk after it had been attacked by it first. The battle marked the first and only time that her Mudbray would willingly obey her in battle, but how much of those commands were obeyed and how many were just a relentless attack against the wild Muk were unknown. Still, the defeat of the Muk presented Avril with a reward for a TM containing Water Pulse, which she used on Shino without delay.

The conclusion to Avril's adventures in Santalune City came when she took on the city's gym leader, Viola. What followed was a rather high-stakes battle, in which Avril's team was nearly defeated mostly on account of the woman's Ninjask. Avril used a strange combination of tactics, including trying to match the bug pokémon's speed with Shino and even trying to tire it out using Benjamin's disobedience and Stamina ability. In the end, Avril managed to prove victorious in the match, but only on account of Shino evolving into a Frogadier at the most crucial moment of the match. As a reward, Avril received the Bug Badge and the TM for the move Bug Bite.

### Act Two - Faced With Reality

While traveling to Lumiose City, Avril met up with a fellow graduate of the Aquacorde Pokémon Academy, Laurent Hessel. The young man was admiring the various works of topiary along the route, when he noticed that several of the bushes looked as though they had been damaged quite thoroughly. It was at this point the duo of trainers met an old gardener who explained that the bushes had been ravaged by the antics of trainers, as well as new recruits into the ranks of the Pokémon Rangers. Together with Laurent, Avril set out on the route to help secure the aid of some Flabébé. The gardener believed that the fairy type's closeness to nature would aid in the repair of the damaged topiary, as well as educate the importance of nature. With the combined effort of Anise and Laurent's Ivysaur, Bernard, the duo managed to track down and subdue two wild Flabébé. Upon bringing the gardener back the pokémon, Avril and Laurent were able to witness the power that the fairy types held. The topiary were brought back to life, looking better than ever. As a reward for their assistance, the gardener presented the duo with a baby Mareep. Avril took one she dubbed Marble, while Laurent took her twin sister which he named Maria.

Avril's arrival in Lumiose would signal a dramatic shift in her journey. While attempting to a bit of sightseeing, Avril was dragged into the seedy underbelly of Lumiose City. The girl was taken to a fighting-pit of sorts, where she witnessed a Chespin being forced to fight for his life against a group of feral Eevees. She would soon discover that this Chespin belonged to fellow graduate, Drew Tucker. The boy's Chespin was nearly killed by the violent Eevees, and both she and Drew could have found themselves in a world of pain, had it not been for the timely arrival of more of their fellow graduates, this time in the form of Jackson Crane and Emma Kuzunoha. The arrival of the duo gave Avril the chance she needed to escape from her captors, and she too joined the battle against the thugs that were using the Eevees as a source of entertainment and money. During the ensuing battle, Avril witnessed firsthand the power of mega evolution, when an unknown Charizard aided in keeping the group of trainers alive...

After the event, Avril reunited with Emma properly for the first time since their graduation. It was revealed that the two had been best friends since their days at the academy, both bonding over their love for the comic book, Pretty Soldier Sailor Gardevoir. Emma, who had been tasked with helping the police to bust up the fighting-ring, was about to be forced into rounding up the Eevees so that they could be put down. The police viewed them as too feral to be trained or released into the wild, but Avril's timely refusal to turn them over would help spare the creatures' lives. Avril insisted that each of the trainers present be given one of the Eevees to help train and reform. Avril, Emma, Drew, and Dahlia D. Adoración each received one of the Eevees, while the fifth one turned up missing. Avril was escorted to the pokémon center by Emma, where she healed her team and desperately wanted to put the events of the fighting pit behind. The girl planned to go on another sightseeing expedition in the city, but this time with a map in order to avoid being lost. As she grabbed a quick shower to refresh herself, her newly acquired Eevee managed to get a hold of the Leaf Stone that she acquired back during the beginning of her journey, causing the creature to evolve into a Leafeon.

After that episode, Avril made her way towards Lumiose City's most famous landmark, Prism Tower. The girl wanted to witness the lighting of the tower, figuring the sight would have made for a most breathtaking spectacle. However, she learned that the tower was closed for several reasons, one of which being because it doubled as the gym for Lumiose City and it was about to host a ceremony to welcome Volkner, a gym leader from Sinnoh who was partaking in Kalos' gym leader exchange program with the city's normal gym leader, Clemont. Figuring that this would be a good time to get her second gym badge under her belt, Avril planned to challenge Volkner to a battle proper. However, she learned that he was unable to accept any official battles due to the ceremony needing to go underway. Also, the ceremony was on hold due to the fact that the power generator to Prism Tower had somehow managed to go missing. Wanting to get rid of any possible excuses she could so that she could challenge Volkner, Avril set off to find the generator along with the help of a somewhat reluctant Drew. Eventually, the duo managed to track down the generator in one of the more seedier areas of Lumiose City. The generator had been stolen by a member of Team Cinder, one who seemed to have a passing familiarity with Drew. Although the battle against him started off with Avril and Drew working together, the behavior of the boy's Eevee forced him to withdraw and leave most of the battle up to Avril and her pokémon team. It was during this battle that Anise evolved into a Noctowl.

With the generator secured and the Team Cinder grunt safely under arrest, Avril and Drew managed to return the generator to the tower so the ceremony could begin proper. While Volkner still couldn't challenge Avril to an official gym battle, he offered to let her have a mock battle of sorts against him. Avril agreed, thinking that it could serve as a useful guide on how to battle Volkner when it came time for their official gym battle. What followed was anything, but what Avril expected. Volkner was able to decimate Avril's entire team up to that point, most of the victims falling to his Luxray alone. Shino was the only member of the team who managed to hold his own against one of the Sinnoh gym leader's pokémon, and it was this utter defeat along with the jeers and amusement of the crowd that began to shake Avril's confidence in herself to the very core, as well as serve the beginning of what many could consider a wake up call.

Avril's hardships continued late into the night, when she followed Jackson and Emma on their mission to track down some Team Cinder thugs. The girl soon found herself in a life and death struggle against a rampaging Magmortar, who went on a rampage through the alleyway and even killed one of the Team Cinder grunts in a fiery inferno. Avril took the event rather hard, blaming herself for the death of the man much to Jackson's dismay. Even though he tried to reason with Avril that she was being foolish and should not feel any responsibility towards the death of the Cinder grunt, Avril insisted on following him along towards his encounter with Gabriel Artece. Emma tagged along as well.

The meeting with the Team Cinder admin went less than stellar. He managed to easily best all three of the academy trainers in a battle of the tongue, striking each one where it hurt the most. The moment that changed Avril the most happened shortly after, when Gabriel Artece took aim at Avril with his gun and prepared to kill her quickly. Instead of Avril moving on to the other side, it was Shino who managed to arrive and take the gunshot for her. The Frogadier was heavily wounded from the gunshot, and would have died had Avril not managed to hinder the pokémon's bleeding. Avril fled the scene, quickly taking Shino back to the pokémon center with Emma in tow. The detective tried to give Avril some positive thoughts and encouragement, but too much damage had been dealt to the girl's psyche at this point. Avril lost her cool, seeing Emma's words as nothing but hollowed out attempts at trying to place herself above Avril, despite the fact that it was not in the older trainer's intentions at all. The two ended up having a huge falling out, that would last for quite a bit of time. Although Shino did manage to recover, Avril still blamed herself and her own weakness for the pain he had went through, as well as everything else that could have possibly gone wrong with her journey thus far. The girl abandoned her dreams of becoming a world-class author, slipping into a sleepless night of self-loathing and depression. It was at this point that she encountered a Shuppet, who slipped into Avril's room at the center by tracking down the negative emotions being emitted from the trainer. Somehow amused by this turn of events, Avril captured the Shuppet right at the act's end.

### Act Three - Beneath The Masks

Avril spent the beginning of the third act recovering from the events of Lumiose City. After reclaiming Shino from the pokémon center, the girl met up with Jackson Crane after he had also been recovering from his injuries from the previous night. It was during this chance encounter that Avril would meet his sister, Malorie Crane as well. Although both Avril and Jackson tried to avoid it, Malorie insisted that the three of them hang-out for a bit. Not wanting to upset the girl, Avril reluctantly agreed. Eventually, the three of them found their way to just outside the Lumiose gates on Route 5. Jackson and Avril discussed the events of the previous night, in which Jackson went into detail about the plans of Team Cinder that he learned from the champion of the Sinnoh Region, Cynthia. Malorie made busy by playing with the duo's pokémon as they discussed this rather unsettling information. It was also during this time together that Jackson revealed the true relation between himself and Malorie, forcing Avril to keep it to herself. The blonde had no qualms about agreeing.

Curious to see more of the blonde's pokémon, Malorie asked about the rest of her team. It was when Avril mentioned that she also had a Mudbray did the sickly girl suddenly grow quite eager and excited. With some hesitance, Avril released Benjamin for Malorie to meet. In a surprising twist, the Mudbray seemed to take quite a shine to the girl. Avril began to wonder if there was something about Malorie that made Benjamin reminiscent about his previous trainer. Realizing that forcing the Mudbray to go along on the journey when he often refused to obey a single command could be risky and prove eventually deadly to the pokémon, Avril made the decision for him to remain in the care of Malorie. In exchange, she and Jackson shared their contact information via holocaster. She made Jackson promise to get in touch with her if he should ever be on the trail of Gabriel Artece and she would likewise do the same for him.

After parting ways with Jackson and Malorie, Avril resumed her journey. As she traveled up Versant Road, Avril began to finally train her Mareep, Marble. While making her way up the route, Avril would encounter Victoria Levigne. The two would initially start off on the wrong foot, mostly on account Victoria's Luxio for attempting to steal electricity from Marble's wool. The two engaged in a battle, which Avril set a rule for being a best two out of three. The battle ended in a draw, mostly by Victoria's call who noticed that Avril seemed to have an issue when her pokémon were hurt. Through the battle, Avril began to calm down and apologized to Victoria for how harsh she treated the girl before. Victoria accepted the apology and offered to accompany Avril as she made her way to Camphrier Town. Avril politely declined and parted ways with Victoria, but not before receiving a rather forward kiss on the cheek from the girl. Avril's journey across the remainder of Versant Road was mostly uneventful, save for her encounter with an extremely wounded, wild Pidgey. Noting that the bird pokémon could possibly die if its wounds were not properly tended to, the girl took it with her as she quickly made her way into town.

With the Pidgey safely taken to the pokémon center in Camphrier Town, Avril began to make busy while waiting for its recovery. The first part of her tour of the town was to pay a visit to Shabboneau Castle. While the girl was mostly unimpressed with the rather... empty tourist attraction, she did find a bit of interest in the recently opened basement. It was here that she viewed a rather moving tapestry piece, but seemed to have some difficulty figuring out just what message the work of art was trying to get across. Thankfully, Avril received some assistance in the matter from the help of a rather mysterious and gigantic man. He related a tale to the girl, attempting to teach her the significance of learning when to let things go, no matter how much that thing, be it living or not, meant to you. He left the girl with a mysterious flower, before seemingly disappearing into the darkness. With her visit to the castle complete, Avril returned to town to try and get a little rest. Rest still refused to come easy to the girl, however.

It was at this point that Avril bumped into Victoria Levigne once more. The latter girl was on her way to a party being held at Parfum Palace and insisted that Avril tag along to be her "date" for the evening. Avril being Avril, seemed to miss just what Victoria was implying, but decided to follow along with the girl anyways. At the party, Avril's mood and journey took another turn for the worse. The fall out between herself and Emma seemed to only grow larger, when Avril realized that the party was partly for the Pokémon Contest entrants and partially for Emma, who had saved the princess' life earlier that day. The two had a rather heated argument, in which Avril took it as the detective trying to rub her success in everyone's face. The two parted ways on horrible terms, with Emma declaring that the Avril she knew and respected being dead. Emma also discarded a doll of Sailor Gardevoir, which Avril would pick up off-screen...

Unfortunately, Avril did not have a chance to cool off from the party before the fates would through her into another situation. She received a message from the pokémon center that the wild pidgey she had brought in had somehow managed to escape and was now back on the loose. With their only clue being that it was heading towards Parfum Palace, Avril set off with the aid of Anise to attempt to track down the bird pokémon before it could manage to be injured further or worse. It was during this search that she bumped into her fellow Aquacorde graduate, Kade Andrews. The boy, who is quite the bird pokémon enthusiast, was searching for Murkrow in the same area. Avril, who was desperate to find the Pidgey before something terrible happened to it, decided to assist Kade in finding Murkrow. In exchange, Kade would assist her in trying to find the wild Pidgey. With the aid of Anise and Kade's Hoothoot, Nox, the two trainers would eventually arrive in a small glade that appeared to be home to a flock of Pidgey. However, Pidgeys were not the only bird pokémon awaiting the duo in the glade. They would encounter a mass flock of Murkrow as well, led by one rather fierce and intimidating looking Honchkrow. Apparently, the crow pokémon had plans on taking the glade over for themselves, and further planned to use the Pidgeys as some sort of forced labor. The two trainers sprang into action to save the Pidgeys. A majority of their pokémon handled the Murkrow, while Anise and Kade's Spearow fought against the Honchkrow. The encounter ended with Kade catching the Honchkrow, causing the Murkrow to quickly disperse from the area. Avril founded the wounded Pidgey and took it back to the pokémon center in Camphrier Town, but not without leaving Anise to watch over the other members of its flock overnight.

Morning soon came, and Avril returned to the glade to drop off the now recovering Pidgey and reclaim Anise. When the trainer arrived however, she found that Anise was not willing to rejoin her and continue the journey. Apparently, the Noctowl had found that some of the Pidgeys were in fact babies and had lost their parents to the Murkrows. Anise's motherly instincts were kicking in and she decided that her role was better served to protect the Pidgey flock and raise the babies. Avril recalled the words of the gigantic man from Shabboneau Castle, and with a heavy heart she released her Noctowl back into the wild.

### Act Four - The More We Grow

Avril found herself in a bit of a depression after parting ways with Anise and furthering the rift between herself and Emma. She began to block out the world around her, essentially retreating further into her shell. It's during this point, as she made her way down Riviere Walk, that she reunited with Laurent Hessel as well as meeting another classmate since graduating for the first time, Sebastian Allender. Laurent seemed to quick to notice that the blonde was not her usual self. Taking note that Sebastian also seemed to be in need of a mood lifter, Laurent invited both of the trainers to accompany him to the Battle Chateau. It was here, that Avril, Sebastian, and Laurent would be entered into a three-battle against three of the four sisters who ran the establishment. The battle would serve as entertainment to those who came to the Battle Chateau to enjoy a delightful lunch. Avril was initially reluctant to battle, as the blonde was starting to lose confidence in her battling abilities and it reminded her a lot of her battle against Volkner in Lumiose City, which was also spectated by many onlookers. Laurent and Sebastian encouraged the blonde, convincing her that it was all in good fun. Avril eventually, reluctantly agreed. Laurent chose to battle with his Metang and Sebastian chose to battle with his Froslass. Avril had initially planned to use Shino in the battle, but her Mareep, Marble, burst forth from her pokéball and entered the battle instead. It was a difficult battle, but the three trainers barely managed to squeeze out a victory against the sisters through a combination of determination and some on the spot teamwork. In particular, Sebastian's Froslass was the final member of the Aquacorde trio's pokémon to be left standing when the battle finally ended. Marble fought her little heart out during the battle however, and as a result she evolved into a Flaaffy at the battle's conclusion.

After parting ways with Laurent, Avril accompanied Sebastian to the daycare center located on the route. It was here that the duo would encounter Drew Tucker, who was in the midst of a mission to attempt to repopulate the wild Eevee population in Kalos. Initially, the plan was for his Eevee, Nebula, to breed with a woman's Purrloin. However, the plan was quickly changed once Avril revealed that she had a Leafeon, which would guarantee that any eggs produced by the two pokémon would contain an Eevee. While Drew and Avril got Nebula and Salad situated, Sebastian made himself busy with his Mothim. The bug-type pokémon seemed to be going through some sort of trauma, which resulted in Sebastian sending the Mothim back to his hometown of Fuchsia City, located in the Kanto region. It was during this time that Shino reunited with Selkie, Sebastian's Braixen, and Brycen, Drew's Quilladin, who shared some fond memories of their days in Sycamore's lab as well as their experiences during their journeys across Kalos.

Avril's journey resumed shortly after, when she eventually made her way to Ambrette Town. Most of her journey along the routes were spent training Shino, Marble, and Lulu a great deal, as the three were now the only pokémon she had left on her team. After finally arriving in the town, Avril decided to reward the three pokémon with a day of fun in the sun on Ambrette's beach. It was during this time that Avril would once more run into Emma Kuzunoha. The two still seemed to be at odds with each other and were close to exploding into another argument, when some beach goers found themselves in trouble. Apparently, they believed that they were attacked by a mysterious sea monster. Emma and Avril both had their doubts about this, with the former taking on their plight as a case. Avril decided to accompany the detective and the duo headed out to sea to solve the problem. As it turned out, it was not a sea monster that was attacking boats. Rather, it was a Gyarados and a would-be pirate who turned out to be a member of the Emerald Dragons, a group of criminals that Emma had been battling against during her journey. Avril and Emma took charge against the pirate's Gyarados, but an attack from the massive water pokémon struck their boat and plunged an unconscious Emma into the watery depths. Throwing all caution to the wind, Avril left Shino and Marble in charge of battling the Gyarados while she dove into the water to save her friend. The two pokémon succeeded and Avril managed to save Emma from certain death.

Back on shore, the pirate was captured and the mystery of the sea monster was explained to those who were attacked by him. However, the pirate turned out to have some fight left in him. He took one of the beach goers hostage and planned to make his escape. What he didn't count on was the intervention of another, this time in the form of Avril's father, Clifford Morris and his Bisharp. The duo managed to stall the pirate long enough for the authorities to arrive and arrest him properly. Afterwards, Clifford confronted his runaway daughter and attempted to force her to come back home, but she refused with the encouragement and support of Emma. Clifford decided to set up a test for Avril's meddle, challenging her to a battle at the tower in Shalour City. After the situation managed to calm down, Avril and Emma finally reconciled their differences and reforged their friendship.

Avril's pokémon did finally get that beach day they were promised, as well as Avril finally finding herself able to relax a bit. The afternoon was spent in the company of Victoria Levigne, who accompanied Avril on a trip through Ambrette Town. Avril decided it was time for a make-over, which consisted of buying a new wardrobe and getting a new hairstyle. During the trip, she began to become aware of Victoria's advances on her, which left Avril feeling a bit confused as to how she actually felt towards the girl and other mysterious feelings as well. These feelings would continue to linger long after the two parted ways and into the night, where Avril made a moonlit expedition to Spike Passage and then Glittering Cave.

At Glittering Cave, Avril found herself under the torment of Lulu. The Shuppet was giving her trainer a rather tough time with her sassy antics, eventually wandering off on her own. It was during this time that Avril encountered Sebastian Allender once more. The boy seemed to be rather panicked to see Avril in the cave, insisting that he escort her out and back to town. Avril was concerned by the boy's worry, but revealed that she couldn't leave the cave until she found Lulu. It was during this time that Avril learned just what sort of danger she was actually in. Apparently, Team Cinder had been looking for her since the incident in Lumiose City, along with a few other members of her graduating classmates. Fearing the worst for Avril, Sebastian agreed to help. With his aid, Avril managed to find her ghost pokémon, who had gotten herself into trouble by antagonizing a wild Noibat. The only way for the ghost to get away from the temperamental bat pokémon was to battle it. Lulu managed to hold her own and after the battle she captured the wild pokémon. Now that Avril had been reunited with the ghost pokémon, she was ready to head back to town.

The duo didn't get too far through the cave, when they encountered a strange old woman and her Medicham. The old woman was being harassed by some Team Cinder grunts, but amazingly her Medicham seemed more than capable to fend them off on her own. What caught the attention of Sebastian and Avril the most however, was the fact that the Medicham was capable of using human weapons. This excited and interested Avril greatly, as she had always been taught that pokémon were incapable of using human-made tools and items. The blonde practically begged the old woman, which she took to calling "Granny" to teach Shino how to be capable of such techniques. The old woman agreed, but the group found themselves under attack by Team Cinder before any training could properly get underway. In particular, an Alpha grunt happened to attack the group. After learning that the old woman had been fighting endless waves of Cinder grunts for what she assumed to be hours, Avril and Sebastian stepped up to give her a break and protect her. Together with Avril's Frogadier and Sebastian's Meinfoo, the duo were able to fend off the Cinder members. However, not all was peaceful after their defeat.

In actuality, the duo won on account of the normal grunt's Weezing using Self-Destruct. This angered the Alpha grunt greatly, who proceeded to murder his underling in cold blood. The Alpha grunt, who then recognized Avril, prepared to take out the girl, was finished off by the old woman and her Medicham. The duo did not hesitate to kill the Alpha grunt in order to keep Avril and Sebastian safe. The woman complimented the both of them for a battle well fought, before inviting them to one day stop by her dojo located in Cyllage City. She also entrusted Avril with an Armor Fossil, which the blonde quickly deduced to be the real reason why Team Cinder was hunting the woman down.

Avril returned to Ambrette Town, where she encountered a scientist by the name of Seymour. He escorted Avril to the fossil lab, where the girl brought the Armor Fossil back to life in the form of a Shieldon. She affectionately named the blast from the past Cecil, and added the ancient pokémon to her team.

## Pokémon

### On-Hand

**Shino (Male, Torrent)** - Shino is Avril's starter pokémon, receiving him from Professor Sycamore upon graduating the Aquacorde Pokémon Academy. Initially an easily flustered pokémon, he was often quite nervous about battling. This trait held especially true when fighting evolved pokémon. He evolved into a Frogadier while battling against Viola during Avril's first gym battle. He gained more confidence in himself, but is still easily flustered at times. Shino took a back seat to Avril's other team members after he received a gunshot wound at the hands of Gabriel Artece during the events of Lumiose City. He has since then recovered and began to train himself more seriously, taking it upon himself to lead the way for the rest of the pokémon on the team and to become stronger so that another event such as that will never occur to him or anyone else again. Shino shares a bond with some of the other pokémon that were given away to the Aquacorde graduates. In particular, he seems to be close to Brycen (Drew Tucker's Chespin) and Selkie (Sebastian Allender's Fennekin). This is most likely due to them being the first ones that arrived at Sycamore's lab, as well as the fact that they are the only complete set of regional starters to be given to the academy graduates at the beginning of the story.

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   **Marble (Female, Static)** - Marble was obtained as a baby Mareep during Avril's travel towards Lumiose City on Parterre Way. She received her as thanks for assisting an old gardener by bringing him a pair of Flabébé to aid in repairing his damaged shrubbery. Marble was a pair of twin Mareep, her sister being given to fellow graduate Laurent Hessel. Despite her young age, Marble always tries to aid Avril in battle whenever possible. After departing from Lumiose City, she finally began training the Mareep properly. She evolved into a Flaaffy after a triple battle at the Battle Chateau, in which she battled along side of Laurent Hessel's Metang and Sebastian Allender's Froslass. Though young, Marble seems to be quite eager to prove herself among the ranks of Avril's team. She seems to share a great bond with the trainer, viewing her as somewhat of a mother-figure.

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**Lulu (Female, Cursed Body)** - Lulu was first encountered and caught the night before Avril left Lumiose City. She was attracted to the negative emotions Avril had after the rather taxing events involving her encounter with Team Cinder and Gabriel Artece and the subsequent falling out with Emma Kuzunoha. Despite being on the team for only a short time, Lulu has proven herself to be a valuable ally, participating in several battles with the team. She is a bit of an odd one, always making light of just about any situation. Mischevious and more than just a bit rambunctious, Lulu enjoys giving her trainer grief and playing pranks on her. She has a way of getting under the skin of Avril as well as the other pokémon on her team.

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**Radar (Male, Infiltrator)** - Radar was met when Avril made a late night expedition to Glittering Cave following her evening with Victoria in Ambrette Town. He was caught by the blonde after she battled him with her Shuppet, in a rather spontaneous and spur of the moment decision. Ironically, the Noibat is the seventh pokémon to join Avril's team over the course of her journey, but is the first one she actually captured as opposed to adopting it or receiving it as a gift. He seems to be a fairly down to earth and serious pokémon, however at the same time he has quite the short fuse. Radar seems to get along well with most of Avril's pokémon team, with the exception of Lulu the Shuppet. Lulu seems to thrive in giving the Noibat a hard time and antagonizing him, something that she did when they first met before Avril even captured him.

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**Cecil (Male, Sturdy)** - Cecil started out his time on Avril's team as a fossil. The fossil was given to her by an old woman who Avril and fellow classmate, Sebastian Allender, helped protect from Team Cinder during the events of Glittering Cave. He was revived from the Armor Fossil shortly after Avril returned to Ambrette Town that very night. Not too much is known about Cecil at this point in the story. He seems to be a very cautious pokémon, unsure of the world around him. This is quite understandable, as the world was very different the last time that he was alive. According to the old woman who gave his fossil to Avril, Cecil's spirit seemed to sense something within Avril that compelled him to want to join her on this journey. Avril isn't sure how the old woman could tell that, but is happy to have Cecil along anyways.

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### Temporary Pokémon

**Anise (Female, Keen Eye)** - Anise was first encountered as a Hoothoot in Santalune Forest during Act 1, Stage 2. A strong willed and determined pokémon, she refused capture until her children were able to leave the nest of their own accord. She aided Avril in several battles and seemed to serve as an older sister figure to Avril's other pokémon. She evolved into a Noctowl during Avril's first visit to Lumiose, while taking on a Team Cinder grunt who stole the generator that powered Prism Tower. She would continue to be one of Avril's strongest pokémon, but after helping to liberate a flock of Pidgey being held prisoner by a horde of Murkrow and a Honchkrow, she left the team to protect the Pidgey.

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    **Benjamin (Male, Stamina)** - Benjamin first appeared in Santalune City during Stage 1, Act 3. A victim of the forest fire in Santalune City, he lost his trainer and was put for adoption. Despite Avril's best attempts, he absolutely refused to obey or respect the trainer, constantly just lazing about and ignoring her. He only actively obeyed her commands in one battle. Eventually, Avril gave Benjamin away to Jackson Crane's sister, Malorie. The Mudbray seemed to take a liking to her, on account of reminding him of his former trainer.

> Mud-Slap | Mud Sport | Rototiller | Bulldoze
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### Pokémon In Reserve

**Salad (Male, Leaf Guard)** - Salad was first encountered as an Eevee during Avril's first day in Lumiose. He was part of a pack that had been specifically trained to take part in a pit fighting-style of combat. While his fellow Eevee were quite ferocious, Salad seemed to be almost innocent, seeing it all as just playing as opposed to combat. Initially about to be put down because of being seen as too "far gone" to be trained or released back into the wild, Avril managed to save them by convincing the police to let various members of her class raise them. He evolved via Leaf Stone later that night, on account of him finding it in Avril's bag and believing it to be a toy. Salad was never very reliable in battle, always believing that his opponents, no matter how much malice they showed, to just be playing a game with him. Avril eventually left him at the Daycare on Route 7 in order for him to assist in bringing back the wild Eevee population in Kalos, along with the assistance of Drew's Eeevee, Nebula.

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## Relationships

### Emma Kuzunoha

Avril met Emma during her first day at the Aquacorde Pokémon Academy. The two nearly got off on the wrong foot, but were quick to bond over their love of comics and super heroes, in particular a series known as Pretty Soldier, Sailor Gardevoir. Their bond only strengthened during their academy days, with a feeling of sisterhood quickly forming between the two. As the journey began Avril initially looked up to Emma as an anchor of sorts, in particular after the Eevee Fighting Pit incident. However as time passed and the incidents within Lumiose continued, Avril began to get a different feeling towards the detective.

She began to feel like Emma was boasting her accomplishments and her successes to her. This was mostly on account of all the losses and hardships that Avril started dealing with in the city, which caused her to start remembering her father's words of doubt and constant belittling of her in comparison to her sister. The feelings of inadequacy and helplessness caused Avril to lash out her best friend, effectively ending the friendship between them... or at least putting it on hiatus. The rift between the duo would only grow as they traveled, during the events of the party which followed the Pokémon Contest held at Parfum Palace.

Eventually, the bond would be restored between Avril and Emma during their time at Ambrette Town. Emma nearly died during her case at the beach. It was there that Emma also happened to see just what sort of inner conflicts Avril had been dealing with when the girl encountered her father. These events caused Emma and Avril to recognize just how foolish they had been and to quickly make amends with each other before something happened that neither would be able to take back.

### Clifford Morris

Avril's relationship with her father would be called strained at best. Avril has a deep-seeded hatred for the man, constantly feeling belittled and weak on account of how the man always boasted her sister's accomplishments and successes over her own. There is also a possibility that Avril may have suffered some physical abuse from the man while growing up.