Age: 22
DOB: May 12, 1996
Sex: Female
Height: 5' 8"
Weight: Not Telling (... 125 lbs)
Voice Type: Soprano (0:27)
Body Type: Mesomorph
Personality: Yume is a bright and energetic young woman who loves and enjoys life to the fullest every day. She's always smiling and, because of how easily entertained she is, always laughing. It's almost impossible to keep a sour face or attitude around her. For whatever reason she almost always seems to know what to say and how to say it in order to have the intended effect of brightening your day. Whenever the opportunity arises, she's humming or singing regardless of whether or not anyone else is around. She has a beautiful voice, and she knows it. And Yume is a "if you've got it, flaunt it" kind of girl.
Her personal views on the Pokémon League are mixed. She agrees with most of how the League operates, but takes one very notable exception: Pokémon Experimentation. While the League does its best to oversee such experiments to make sure they're as humane as possible, given the goal of "understanding everything possible about Pokémon", there are lapses in its treatment of its Pokémon test subjects. There have been two Pokémon deaths involved in these experiments, and one of them publicly broadcast on television because the broadcast didn't shut down when the Pokémon was killed. It was supposed to be a demonstration of the effects of a new Super Potion spray, but instead of healing the Pokémon it caused a reaction similar to allergies which prompted the already wounded Pokémon's wounds to open further and it bled to death on camera. Yume was only twelve when she saw this, and it traumatized her forever.
Because of what happened, Yume is incredible outspoken about the League's failure to properly contain the scientific community's desire to learn about Pokémon through invasive and dangerous tests. While she understands that there are risks involved, she doesn't believe the League is minimizing those risks efficiently. More than once, thanks to her father, she has found her way into television interviews speaking out about it and she has a social media following of Pokémon Rights enthusiasts. While she doesn't consider herself among them, believing herself more to be a simple "it's common sense" kind of person rather than a "Pokémon Rights!" person, she recognizes the similarities in their views and beliefs about the League's treatment of Pokémon and thus accepts the recognition and following she has with open arms. Today she continues to speak out whenever possible, especially if she finds an opportunity to take it to the screen on a television broadcast.
Despite the flak her father has taken for his daughter's open criticism of the Pokémon League, he continues to support her and her right to speak her mind and give criticism where she feels it's due.
Starter Pokémon: Blaze
Blaze's Bio: Blaze is an extreme rarity among Pokémon in that he is what has become known to the scientific community as an Aberrant, a Pokémon with an alternate coloration to the species' normal color. He was also born with gigantism and stands at an impressive height of 3' 6", a full foot and a half above his species' normal height. Because of the gigantism, he is expected to reach a height of just over 10' as a Charizard.
However... Because of his gigantism, Blaze had a rough upbringing. Due to his size and his abnormal growth rate he hatched from his egg prematurely and came dangerously close to death. Had it not been for the rapid actions of the Pokémon Center staff as well as the Breeder overseeing his egg clutch, he would have succumbed to the premature birth complications. He survived, barely, and was in intensive care for over three months while the rest of his clutch hatched and was introduced to their mother during his isolation. He was introduced to his mother almost one full month after the rest of his siblings, and as a result she did not recognize him, nor had he imprinted on her as his mother. Ultimately the union was a tragic one in which she rejected him forcing the Pokémon Center to take him into their care until a permanent home could be found.
Luckily for Blaze, one such home was ready and waiting... The home of Professor Oak of Pallet Town.
Professor Oak was fascinated by Blaze's size and coloration and happily took him in. While initially for observation and study, he grew quite fond of the young and playful fire lizard despite his antics and occasional breaking of something in the lab due to his size. Before long the Professor had discovered all he could about Blaze's conditions, and he contemplated keeping him for himself or handing him out to a worthy young Trainer sometime in the future. But before he could make the decision himself, the Pokémon League confiscated him for private study.
Blaze's life took a turn for the worse during this period in which he was the subject of some rather invasive and exhaustive tests which saw him grow to distrust those who handled him. On more than one occasion he lashed out and snapped at his handlers when he felt they were too rough or poked him in the wrong places. Restraints were inevitable. Luckily for Blaze, this did not last. There came a day, almost a full year into his isolation in this dark facility, when someone new came into his life. A young human with crimson red hair and bright green eyes who threw out the scientists running tests on him and approached.
Her voice was soft and warm. Her touch was gentle and kind. Her eyes were welcoming and full of life. It was almost as if the Professor had come for him, but this wasn't the Professor. This was someone else. She released his restraints and he hopped down from the table to the hard floor below. But because of his isolation he was rather weak and stumbled upon landing. But instead of hitting the ground, he found himself wrapped protectively in the girls arms as she nuzzled his head and stroked his shoulders and back while cooing to him that it would be all right. That the tests were over and she would take him in from this point on.
He didn't know how to feel about it at first, hearing that he would have yet another new owner. But something about this girl compelled him to believe her words. As she continued cooing and singing softly to him while stroking his back and nuzzling his head, he quickly fell asleep in his new Trainer's arms before being called to his first Poké Ball to rest.
His new life had begun.
Biography: Yume Ishiwata was born on May 12, 1996, to parents Tomomi and Takashi Ishiwata. She was born in Pallet Town on a late and warmer than usual late Spring day in Pallet Town General Hospital at 7:38pm. She was exactly eighteen inches and six pounds, four ounces. Yume took after her grandmother on her mother's side, sharing her striking red hair and green eyes. And although it wasn't discovered until her pre-teen years, she also took after her grandfather on her father's side with her athleticism and taller frame (she's taller than both her parents who are 5' 2" and 5' 5" respectively).
Yume's mother, then Tomomi Outa, was a Communications specialist working originally in Saffron City. She was hired by a company called Berges International, a business corporation specializing in the production and distribution of computer chips to other corporate partners both overseas and in other Regions. Her primary duties included coordinating corporate meetings, events, and assigning translators when language and culture differences became an obstacle. It was during one such coordination effort that she was put into contact with one Takashi Ishiwata, a representative of the Alolan Pokémon Law Enforcement Agency, PPP (Pokémon Protection and Preservation). Though their talk was mostly about business, Takashi happened to like Tomomi's voice and asked her to coffee before the first real meeting was set to take place. Reluctantly, she agreed.
The rest, as we say, is history.
The young couple fell in love over the course of an eight month courtship dance in which Tomomi played extremely hard to get which drove Takashi up the wall. But his persistence paid off when he bought the ring and proposed. She accepted immediately and the two were wed a mere four months later on the day of their one year anniversary. They did not conceive for two full years as they wanted to be certain of their relationship first. Everything worked out just fine and the pair bought a small house in Pallet Town after Yume's father earned an early retirement (he comes from a wealthy family). With Takashi retired and free to stay home and take care of the family, Yume was conceived and brought into the world as the first child of the family. Two years later her younger sister, Ema, was born.
Yume shares her father's strong beliefs on proper treatment of Pokémon. Every time she's seen an example of abuse or neglect, she's been as public as she could be about speaking out against it. Even as a child she made her own signs and marched around Pallet Town demanding attention and action against the one(s) responsible. She became rather well known, even as a child, as Pallet Town's resident Pokémon Spokesperson. Thanks to social media her outspoken nature for proper treatment of Pokémon earned her millions of followers from Kanto to Kalos who agreed with her views and her determination to find justice in the name of abused and neglected Pokémon. Her social media following, to date, has started dozens petitions of the Pokémon League to punish wrongdoers for neglecting and/or abusing their Pokémon in a public fashion... All of those petitions have been acted upon by the League, and numerous prison sentences have been given out to those accused by Yume and her following after investigations into their actions.
Yume has always carried her father's beliefs close to her heart, and although it made her famous at a young age it did not help her personal life. Her loneliness outside of social media interactions with followers prompted her to seek companionship elsewhere. She asked her father, a Licensed Pokémon Trainer, if it would be all right for her to play with his Pokémon. Unfortunately the law forbid such a thing. Despite her father being a Licensed Trainer who's Pokémon were highly obedient and loved him and the family very much, the law prevented her from interacting with them because she was under aged and not a licensed Trainer herself. Yume spoke out about this law on social media, and it earned both her and her father a lot of criticism by the Pokémon League. But thanks to social media Yume and her father were well protected and vouched for by the online community across the Regions.
Several years later, when Yume was sixteen, her forceful social media assault on the Pokémon League's law preventing family members from interacting with Pokémon belonging to licensed Trainers hit a feverish pitch. Almost every other day she was re-posting and reinforcing her belief that if a Licensed Trainer has a family, those family members should be allowed to interact with their Pokémon. The League tried to fight back against her assault, but the overwhelming support her online assault received from the people forced the League to take the matter into consideration. Several months later, the Pokémon League changed its laws in favor of Yume's view that family members of Licensed Trainers, provided they were in good standing with the League, be allowed to interact with their Pokémon so long as it was within the confines of their home and property. Once you set foot outside your property line, it was illegal to interact with Pokémon. Period.
Not exactly what she was hoping for, but it was a step in the right direction.
Over the next two years Yume enjoyed spending time bonding with her father's Pokémon, especially one particular Pokémon named Inferno. Inferno was her father's Charizard, and the two were practically inseparable. Yume grew up bonding deeply with Inferno until Inferno died of old age when Yume was twenty one. She was this close to graduating with her degree from the local Pokémon University and registering for her Trainer's License when it happened. Yume's anguish ran deep during this period. She graduated all the same, but without Inferno there to congratulate her which is what she had been hoping for. During this time Yume's depression began to take over and she even disappeared from social media for a while. Her father, having held onto a favor owed him by Professor Oak for many years, cashed it in and asked the Professor to get Yume her very own Charmander as a partner. Yume had always been preparing for life with a Charmander thanks to her time with Inferno, and it was the only starter Pokémon she would accept.
Professor Oak accepted the request and ordered a Charmander from the Pokémon League, but before he finalized the order he remembered the colored Charmander named Blaze which had been confiscated from him one year prior. The Professor called Yume and let slip that Blaze was in the League's hands as one of their experimental Pokémon, and despite her depression the fact that Blaze was a Charmander ignited her passion once again. She petitioned the League to allow her to take ownership of the Charmander, lest they risk her making the petition public with her millions of followers helping her like they did last time. Not prepared for another headache, the League relented to her petition with minimal resistance and allowed her to come in and take Blaze away. She returned him to Professor Oak, who held him for her until her Pokémon Trainer's License was finalized and delivered to her. Once she had the license in her hands, Blaze became her starter Pokémon.
Yume has now been with Blaze for one full month, and the two already share a powerful bond which has pushed Yume to take the Pokémon League Gym Leader's Challenge. Earning the eight Kanto Badges will be a task and a half, but Yume and Blaze are ready. She may still be young and inexperienced, but Yume's studies and practical training with her father's Pokémon after she changed the League's rule about family interactions with Pokémon have prepared her for the rigors which lie ahead.
Yume's legend is now only just beginning.