Name: Damien Chat
Age: 16
Personality: When Damien starts out on his Pokemon journey, age 10, he is shy to the point that he can't throw his Pokeball (he considers this really aggressive and instead just puts the Pokeball down on the ground). He's very uncomfortable and timid, fidgeting a lot. He really wants to be a nurse, working in a Pokecentre like his dad, and tries to fix up every Pokemon he sees. This can lead to him running into deep woods/briar patches/dangerous powerplants due to spotting a potentially injured Pokemon.
By age 16, Damien hasn't let go of his nursing dream, but has come to realize that he cannot just heal; he has to be able to defend himself and defend those who can't defend themselves. Friendly and energetic, Damien trusts easily, naively thinking he's strong enough to pull himself out of any tight spot he might find himself in (literally, if he's out in the field). He typically only shows his Raikou if either the fight is extremely serious, or if he wants to make a friendship speech about trusting in your team. He hasn't lost the fidgeting, but it's more clearly from him having more energy than he knowing what to do with; he can't stand still.
Age: 16
Personality: When Damien starts out on his Pokemon journey, age 10, he is shy to the point that he can't throw his Pokeball (he considers this really aggressive and instead just puts the Pokeball down on the ground). He's very uncomfortable and timid, fidgeting a lot. He really wants to be a nurse, working in a Pokecentre like his dad, and tries to fix up every Pokemon he sees. This can lead to him running into deep woods/briar patches/dangerous powerplants due to spotting a potentially injured Pokemon.
By age 16, Damien hasn't let go of his nursing dream, but has come to realize that he cannot just heal; he has to be able to defend himself and defend those who can't defend themselves. Friendly and energetic, Damien trusts easily, naively thinking he's strong enough to pull himself out of any tight spot he might find himself in (literally, if he's out in the field). He typically only shows his Raikou if either the fight is extremely serious, or if he wants to make a friendship speech about trusting in your team. He hasn't lost the fidgeting, but it's more clearly from him having more energy than he knowing what to do with; he can't stand still.
(Obviously there will need to be a fic written about this if the capture stage is approved, but I felt the need to outline it. Raikou's actions are based off the Bulbapedia entry, which states 'It is shown to be distrustful of humans, though it may form some friendship with those who help it.' I like the idea of Raikou bonding with a human who helps Pokemon; it's pushing things a little, and it's ultimately cheesy friendshippy stuff, but so is Pokemon.)
Damien first started seeing Raikou about when he was ten, just starting his journey as a Trainer. He was helping a Pichu that was stuck in a trap when the beast noticed him helping its type... and just stared at him for a few seconds from a distance before running off. Damien added Pichu to his party, as his first captured Pokemon. From that point onwards, Damien found that he'd occasionally glance up and see Raikou watching him help a Pokemon; a very mild form of jumpscare, due to Raikou turning and fleeing the moment he was spotted.
At that time, Raikou was curious to see such a young human helping wild Pokemon, but remained very distrustful.
Continuing on his journey, Damien dutifully got a couple of badges and then ran into difficulties with local grunts in the area, as many Trainers do. He ran afoul of several minor groups which I won't detail because plot. On one occasion, two years into his journey, he was dogpiled by six grunts, who wanted to steal his rare (for the region) Fletchling. Damien fought his best, but then again, he was only twelve. As he was blacking out, he heard Raikou roaring like a thunderclap, scaring off the baddies, and woke up in front of the Pokemon Centre with all his Pokemon intact.
As Damien struggled on with Gyms that didn't exactly have favourable typings or easy trainers, he found that whenever he was helping Pokemon, Raikou was basically putting off Grunts from interfering - on several memorable occasions, simply appearing and running off, so they might chase after him instead. Damien's close friends were starting to wonder if he actually had a bond with the Legendary, so many times he'd been bailed out by the apparent god of jumpscares. But Raikou never fought at his side - he never actually hurt anyone, never even came close, always ran away after helping out.
Damien started attempting to find Raikou to thank him personally for all this help. But he hadn't realized that the Legendary was now following him around, making sure he didn't get into strife helping Pokemon. And it therefore tended to stay behind him. Damien searched and searched, but as he cleared more gyms and became a stronger trainer, there was less and less need for the occasional Raikou intervention.
Eventually, after a failed attempt, Damien battled his way through the Pokemon League at age 16. This was his second attempt, having tried and failed the year previous - and this time, he succeeded. He then sat on the stairs with his Pokemon, and announced his intentions to leave Johto and find more Pokemon in need. Having gotten his badges and title, his journey here (or at least his promise to his mother) was over.
He'd assumed that the occasional Raikou sightings would be gone, too. But, finally realizing this was the Trainer he would like to fight for, being both strong and kind, and pledging himself to help others as well, Raikou made up his mind. He presented himself to Damien at the foot of the stairs, and demanded he be captured 'formally' (ie with a battle), so that he might be Damien's sword as opposed to his shield.
Damien was initially reluctant, not wanting to hurt the beast that had kept watch over him to some extent, but Raikou was determined and ultimately a battle ensued, during which every last one of Damien's Pokemon were tested, as well as Damien himself. Only when he relaxed and trusted in his Pokemon was the Trainer was able to triumph over Raikou, and have him captured in an Ultra Ball.
Damien first started seeing Raikou about when he was ten, just starting his journey as a Trainer. He was helping a Pichu that was stuck in a trap when the beast noticed him helping its type... and just stared at him for a few seconds from a distance before running off. Damien added Pichu to his party, as his first captured Pokemon. From that point onwards, Damien found that he'd occasionally glance up and see Raikou watching him help a Pokemon; a very mild form of jumpscare, due to Raikou turning and fleeing the moment he was spotted.
At that time, Raikou was curious to see such a young human helping wild Pokemon, but remained very distrustful.
Continuing on his journey, Damien dutifully got a couple of badges and then ran into difficulties with local grunts in the area, as many Trainers do. He ran afoul of several minor groups which I won't detail because plot. On one occasion, two years into his journey, he was dogpiled by six grunts, who wanted to steal his rare (for the region) Fletchling. Damien fought his best, but then again, he was only twelve. As he was blacking out, he heard Raikou roaring like a thunderclap, scaring off the baddies, and woke up in front of the Pokemon Centre with all his Pokemon intact.
As Damien struggled on with Gyms that didn't exactly have favourable typings or easy trainers, he found that whenever he was helping Pokemon, Raikou was basically putting off Grunts from interfering - on several memorable occasions, simply appearing and running off, so they might chase after him instead. Damien's close friends were starting to wonder if he actually had a bond with the Legendary, so many times he'd been bailed out by the apparent god of jumpscares. But Raikou never fought at his side - he never actually hurt anyone, never even came close, always ran away after helping out.
Damien started attempting to find Raikou to thank him personally for all this help. But he hadn't realized that the Legendary was now following him around, making sure he didn't get into strife helping Pokemon. And it therefore tended to stay behind him. Damien searched and searched, but as he cleared more gyms and became a stronger trainer, there was less and less need for the occasional Raikou intervention.
Eventually, after a failed attempt, Damien battled his way through the Pokemon League at age 16. This was his second attempt, having tried and failed the year previous - and this time, he succeeded. He then sat on the stairs with his Pokemon, and announced his intentions to leave Johto and find more Pokemon in need. Having gotten his badges and title, his journey here (or at least his promise to his mother) was over.
He'd assumed that the occasional Raikou sightings would be gone, too. But, finally realizing this was the Trainer he would like to fight for, being both strong and kind, and pledging himself to help others as well, Raikou made up his mind. He presented himself to Damien at the foot of the stairs, and demanded he be captured 'formally' (ie with a battle), so that he might be Damien's sword as opposed to his shield.
Damien was initially reluctant, not wanting to hurt the beast that had kept watch over him to some extent, but Raikou was determined and ultimately a battle ensued, during which every last one of Damien's Pokemon were tested, as well as Damien himself. Only when he relaxed and trusted in his Pokemon was the Trainer was able to triumph over Raikou, and have him captured in an Ultra Ball.
Damien has owned a lot of Pokemon, as Pokemon who are healed often reappear to challenge him to earn their trust and capture them. His party has gradually solidified over the years; first he only had one permanent Pokemon, then two, then three and so on, with the remaining slots drifting between Pokemon until he found one that 'clicked'. I'll go through the ones in his party at the time of facing the Raikou very briefly, and how each is relevant to the dumb long journey he's been on.
Not gonna include movesets because it's not we're looking for here. The point of this is more to prove that Damien and his Pokemon have worked very hard for six years; none of them just wandered into the Pokemon League and blew the bejeebus out of it.
Meganium: Damien's starter. Didn't actually believe all the claptrap about trying to nurse Pokemon back to health until Damien nearly got himself killed trying, and Meganium had to step in with his vines to save the guy. After that point, he believed. He typically tries to act as a break to Damien's happiness, but he has absolute faith in his Trainer these days.
Raichu: She was found as a Pichu, stuck in a trap set by Grunts to capture Pokemon. Wanting to help other Pokemon, and seeing Damien was continuing to do so, she later returned to Damien and nudged a Pokeball until he let her into it, effectively capturing herself. The first Pokemon Damien ever captured, Raichu is in many ways the first Pokemon to ever trust Damien implicitly. Hell - she was very scared to evolve with the thunder stone, but due to his reassurances went through with it.
When he captures Raikou, Raikou takes Raichu's spot and Raichu is released from her many years of service.
Talonflame: The first Pokemon Damien got from a different region, as a Fletchinder this pokemon was blown way off course and then got attacked by bigger birds, resulting in him crash-landing at Damien's feet. However, he didn't want to be captured, thinking that Damien was some rare-pokemon hunter who'd just dump him in the PC. This resulted in the Pokemon being Damien's first catch that wasn't by the Pokemon's own voluntary will, and one of many to follow. To this day Talonflame likes to break out of his Pokeball as a joke, though through Damien being kind he did become very loyal (especially when seeing all the fighting over himself, and realizing Damien wasn't like those grunts).
Furret: The first Pokemon Damien evolved, Furret has nothing but love for her Trainer. She used to belong to a Grunt, but was left behind after he was defeated - he'd wagered that if he won, he'd take Damien's Fletchinder. Clearly he read the team rocket handbook wrong... Her tendency to curl around his neck like a soft feather boa has actually helped him through some very difficult times (losing battles, not getting to a hurt Pokemon in time, ect). While not the team's battle-strongest - she's a HM slave in game terms if anything - Furret has more than earned her place on the team.
Wobbuffet: This Pokemon simply started following the party one day, and... well, that was that. Wobbuffet is a constant reminder for Damien that friends come first, then battles. There was much conflict over taking Wobbuffet into the Pokemon League the first time round, because he was far less well seasoned than the other Pokemon on the team. Even Damien didn't really believe in him. But Wobbuffet did his level best, and even though he lost, he was a real friend. Naturally, one year later, Wobbuffet was still on the team.
Chansey: A Pokemon given to Damien by his mother, after he tried and failed to beat the Pokemon League at age 15 and returned home asking for advice. Chansey is not only a formidable wall, it can heal with its own Pokemon move (which definitely helps Damien out). Obtaining Chansey alone was not enough to get Damien past the Pokemon League one year later, but it certainly helped to have 'family' right there by his side.
Not gonna include movesets because it's not we're looking for here. The point of this is more to prove that Damien and his Pokemon have worked very hard for six years; none of them just wandered into the Pokemon League and blew the bejeebus out of it.
Meganium: Damien's starter. Didn't actually believe all the claptrap about trying to nurse Pokemon back to health until Damien nearly got himself killed trying, and Meganium had to step in with his vines to save the guy. After that point, he believed. He typically tries to act as a break to Damien's happiness, but he has absolute faith in his Trainer these days.
Raichu: She was found as a Pichu, stuck in a trap set by Grunts to capture Pokemon. Wanting to help other Pokemon, and seeing Damien was continuing to do so, she later returned to Damien and nudged a Pokeball until he let her into it, effectively capturing herself. The first Pokemon Damien ever captured, Raichu is in many ways the first Pokemon to ever trust Damien implicitly. Hell - she was very scared to evolve with the thunder stone, but due to his reassurances went through with it.
When he captures Raikou, Raikou takes Raichu's spot and Raichu is released from her many years of service.
Talonflame: The first Pokemon Damien got from a different region, as a Fletchinder this pokemon was blown way off course and then got attacked by bigger birds, resulting in him crash-landing at Damien's feet. However, he didn't want to be captured, thinking that Damien was some rare-pokemon hunter who'd just dump him in the PC. This resulted in the Pokemon being Damien's first catch that wasn't by the Pokemon's own voluntary will, and one of many to follow. To this day Talonflame likes to break out of his Pokeball as a joke, though through Damien being kind he did become very loyal (especially when seeing all the fighting over himself, and realizing Damien wasn't like those grunts).
Furret: The first Pokemon Damien evolved, Furret has nothing but love for her Trainer. She used to belong to a Grunt, but was left behind after he was defeated - he'd wagered that if he won, he'd take Damien's Fletchinder. Clearly he read the team rocket handbook wrong... Her tendency to curl around his neck like a soft feather boa has actually helped him through some very difficult times (losing battles, not getting to a hurt Pokemon in time, ect). While not the team's battle-strongest - she's a HM slave in game terms if anything - Furret has more than earned her place on the team.
Wobbuffet: This Pokemon simply started following the party one day, and... well, that was that. Wobbuffet is a constant reminder for Damien that friends come first, then battles. There was much conflict over taking Wobbuffet into the Pokemon League the first time round, because he was far less well seasoned than the other Pokemon on the team. Even Damien didn't really believe in him. But Wobbuffet did his level best, and even though he lost, he was a real friend. Naturally, one year later, Wobbuffet was still on the team.
Chansey: A Pokemon given to Damien by his mother, after he tried and failed to beat the Pokemon League at age 15 and returned home asking for advice. Chansey is not only a formidable wall, it can heal with its own Pokemon move (which definitely helps Damien out). Obtaining Chansey alone was not enough to get Damien past the Pokemon League one year later, but it certainly helped to have 'family' right there by his side.