Iris Sagira "ShadowCat" Smythe

Iris Sagira Smythe is a character played by Umbrae Calamitas on the Uprising roleplay of Global Trade Station Plus. Her first appearance was in 'The Derelict Warehouse.'

Appearance
Of average height, but on the thin side, Iris (or Sagira, as she most often goes by) has long raven-black hair that hangs down almost to her hips, with long bangs that usually shadow her face. Her complexion is rather pale, accentuated by the fact that she wears nothing but black. Her eyes are normally a deep, shadowed blue, but instead of wearing glasses for her farsightedness, she has golden contacts that make her appear to have the eyes of a cat. This becomes a prominent theme, as she always ties her hair back with a thick sash with black cat-ears on top, to make herself appear to be part feline.

Dressed in a tight-fitting full-body suit, she wears a pair of tight leather gloves that leave her fingers with as much maneuverability as if she were wearing none. The fingers of the gloves have each been replaced with a piece of metal that curves like a claw, and she is not afraid to use them as such. Her boots have a small heel that make her appear slightly taller than she is, and she has filed her canine teeth to a point.

Personality
Iris can seem very cold-hearted and dark, as she does not like or trust people well. She finds able companionship with her pokemon, and will turn to them for aid before she turns to a fellow human. She generally keeps quiet and observes, but can be extremely wordy and sarcastic when she sees fit, and there's little anyone can do to keep her quiet when she wants to be heard. She has a fiery temper and has learned to live on her wits and her stealth, so she's extremely adept at sneaking around and finding a way out of a situation. She is particularly fond of cats, having fond memories of her father's Persian, Socrates, who disappeared along with him, and she emulates felines in both her dress and her movements, sometimes unconsciously. She has her morals, but they usually concern only her and those she comes to trust and therefore stand loyal to. She is not above stealing if it is required, and she knows how to cause harm if it is necessary.

Background
Born and raised in Viridian City (Kanto), Iris grew up watching trainers pass through, sometimes sneaking in to watch them battle Giovanni, the leader of the Viridian Gym. She also attended school at the local Pokemon Academy, and her thirst for knowledge and desire to be better than the trainers she saw passing through town made her one of the school's best students.

Iris lived primarily with her mother, as her father worked as a pokemon scientist for Team Aqua, in Noverus. He came home whenever he could to visit, but was unable to speak of his job to either his wife of his daughter. Iris came to anticipate his visits with glee, not only to see him, but also the pokemon he brought home to show her. Her knowledge of pokemon grew with every visit, as did her desire to learn more.

Iris was ten-years-old when her father vanished abruptly, along with his life-long companion, Socrates - his first pokemon, having been given to him as a newly-hatched Meowth. Many people claimed that Taikyrus left of his own accord, choosing to leave his family behind, but Iris and her mother, Alejandra, would have none of the lies, and knew that he would never leave them. Attempts to discover the cause of his disappearance were few and far in between, but from what little knowledge she had of his work, Iris never had a doubt that Team Magma was the culprit.

Having raised a female Ekans from an egg since she was seven, Iris valued the serpent's companionship even more after her father disappeared. When a strange pokemon that Iris had never seen before and her father had never admitted to having caught arrived at her home along with the rest of his pokeballs (excluding Socrates'), Iris was awestruck that the puppy pokemon so easily took to following her around. However, she quickly got used to it, and the Houndour, she discovered, much thanks to the pokemon researcher in Pallet, was unofficially adopted into her party, and gained the name Umbrae, when she discovered that it was a Dark-type pokemon.

Umbrae and Serenity got along amicably, much to Iris' happiness. Unfortunately, having a Dark-type pokemon was just one more thing that town bullies had to torment Iris about, and she gained no small amount of grief from the other pokemon trainers native to Viridian, and those that came through. The animosity that these trainers felt toward Sagira and her pokemon led to a frequent occurrence of battling, in which Sagira became one of the best in Viridian. The only friend she had her own age was a fellow pokemon trainer named Mattie, whose Growlithe, Danika, got along quite well with Umbrae.

Though Iris lived in relative comfort with her mother and their pokemon, she never got over the disappearance of her father. Although her mother never said anything, Iris was under the impression (an impression she got quite frequently) that the woman knew far more than she admitted, but that she wasn't going to reveal anything.

Eventually, Iris left Viridian City to start her own pokemon journey, making her way to Furoh, where she joined Team Aqua, in an attempt to overthrow the tyranny of Team Magma, and discover the fate (and hopefully, the location) of her missing father. Although she hasn't much chance, in her own mind, of ever succeeding, Iris secretly hopes that once Team Magma is overthrown, she will be able to return to Kanto and fulfill the dream she had as a child to be a Pokemon Ranger.

Items and Equipment
PokeNav

Potion x 3

Pokeball x 5

Serenity
'''Ekans "Serenity" Female Level 24

Moves: Wrap, Leer, Poison Sting, Bite, Glare, Stock Pile, Swallow, Spit Up - Heritage:''' Mother - Arbok Father - unknown

Raised by Iris since before she even hatched, Serenity was born of Alejandra's Arbok, Charity, but no one knows who sired the small serpent. Having been named for her calm disposition and how she was a welcome companion after Iris' father disappeared, the little serpent learned to be gentle, from having been raised by a child so young.

Smaller than most other Ekans due to a growth defect, the serpent still isn't one to be trifled with. Despite her calm demeanor, she had proven herself as a force to be reckoned with. Once, when the teasing of town bullies grew to be too vicious, Serenity moved to defend her companion (as Iris resisted the term "master" with utmost abhorrence). This action, although brave, resulted in Serenity's capture by the same bullies, who then proceeded, with the help of their pokemon, to brutally beat the small Ekans.

Although Iris arrived with Mattie and his Growlithe, Danika, drove the bullies and their pokemon away, the damage had been done. Whatever trust the small Ekans had had for others had been virtually wiped out. No one but Iris, Mattie, and their pokemon could ever dare to touch Serenity without fear of being bitten. Although the Ekans is strong, her distrust often leads to fear of others, as Serenity bears scars both mental and physical from the incident, the most noticeable being the thin white scar across her tail from one boy's Pidgeotto, who also scarred Sagira's hands horribly. Serenity has an adamant fear of bird pokemon, primarily Pidgeotto, and so Iris has vowed never to have an avian in her party.

Umbrae
'''Houndoom "Umbrae" Male Level 25

Moves: Leer, Ember, Howl, Smog, Roar, Bite, Nasty Plot* - Heritage:''' Mother - Houndour Father - Socrates (Persian owned by Sagira's father)*Nasty Plot - egg move

Umbrae's past is not well known by anyone. When Taikyrus disappeared, all of his pokeballs that had been left behind were returned home. Always having written when he caught a new pokemon, his journal and letters told nothing of the young Houndour in his party.

Rather rebellious against his pokeball, Umbrae escaped his spherical prison not long after his arrival at the Smythe household, and he began his self-proclaimed duty to follow Iris around. It took a while, but the young girl eventually accepted the puppy into her party, and the Dark-type pokemon, despite his breed, became a common comforting presence.

Having become fast friends with Serenity, Umbrae became something of a bodyguard for her and Iris, against the town bullies. When the Dark-type dog pokemon was around, Serenity did not let her fear get the best of her, and so the Houndour became a necessary and welcome member of their group.

Although Iris would not use the term "pack," being primarily of a feline disposition, that is what Umbrae considered them to be. Extremely loyal, the puppy pokemon will defend his pack to his end, his only detrimental vice being his aggressive nature, and his ability to hold a long and dangerous grudge. Umbrae recently evolved (Hidden Agendas) to protect Sagira during a short battle with Alpha, Ivy Kylarian's mightyena.

Calypso
'''Vulpix "Calypso" Female Level 40

Moves: Ember, Tail Whip, Roar, Quick Attack, Will-o-Wisp, Confuse Ray, Imprison, Flamethrower, Safeguard, Payback, Fire Spin, Captivate, Faint Attack* - Heritage:''' Mother - Ninetails Father - Glameow*Faint Attack - egg move

Trained for two years by Aqua's best, Calypso was a pokemon used to deliver important, secret information from varying bases, as a way to avoid detection by Magma. Unfortunately, they caught on. When she was captured, there was little hope deemed for her survival at their hands, but Aqua had sent out two members on a reconnaissance mission to bring her back.

Despite the mission being a dud, the members having been sent by an Elite Officer with his own agenda, the Vulpix was rescued and officially captured by Sagira. Given the name Calypso, she was welcomed into the team and remains there, as the current second most-powerful pokemon in her arsenal.

While not a psychic pokemon and containing no true extrasensory powers of her own, Calypso was aware of Sagira's psychic abilities on the night when they truly began to manifest, possibly due to the limited feelings she would have gained through what psychic attacks her kind are capable of learning.

Calypso is rather quiet in comparison to Sagira's other pokemon. One of her more noticeable quirks is her annoyance when it comes to vain or arrogant pokemon. Calypso does not hide the fact that she thoroughly enjoys putting these pokemon in their place. She also can be rather sarcastic, particularly at these times - a trait that she shares with Sagira.

Calypso, in particular, does not like Victor Bays, the fourth trainer in their party. He is much like the pokemon that she loathes; extremely vain and rather bossy. While it is not her place, Calypso wouldn't pass up the chance to put the boy in his place with a well-aimed fire attack. Calypso has a crush on Topaz, Sagira's eevee.

Paladin
'''Kirlia "Paladin" Male Level 39

Moves: Growl, Confusion, Double Team, Teleport, Lucky Chant, Magical Leaf, Calm Mind, Psychic, Imprison, Future Sight, Charm, Disable* - Heritage''' Mother - Gardevoir Father - Dusknoir*Disable - egg move

Paladin was made aware to Sagira through a conversation she had with her missing father in a dream. In this dream that wasn't a dream, it was revealed to her that she has some mild psychic power, though how she did not realize this is anyone's guess. Her father showed her where the Ralts was and, following his instructions, she went to him and convinced the Ralts to join her party, as a friend and not an object.

It was this that truly convinced Paladin, for though Sagira did not know it then, the Ralts had once had a pokemon trainer - a man who viewed himself as the owner of his pokemon, and who treated them as things, rather than living beings. Paladin had run away and been lost and hungry, when Sagira had found him. Though she offered up a tough exterior for others to see, he could sense her kindness and the good intentions underneath, and was drawn to her.

Paladin is teaching Sagira how to control what psychic abilities she has, as her father has planned. The two are always linked in their minds, Paladin requiring this link in order to be able to hear what others say, having been deafened at a young age when he fell into a river. He has romantic feelings for Jay Lange's kirlia, Hinata, and evolved in order to stop her from causing herself imminent pain through her anger. Paladin likes to tease Sagira about her feelings toward Jay - feelings that she denied for the longest time. This is something that he probably gained from Sagira, having originally been very serious due to the events of his past. As he evolves, Paladin's mannerisms and speech patterns change. He does not use Sagira's name, but calls her "my lady," as he calls Hinata "my lady fair," and is beginning to call her trainer "Sir Jacob." Eventually, he will shift into complete knight-speak, as Sagira will call it, and only continue the teasing subtly or in moments that are understandably appropriate.

Topaz
'''Eevee "Topaz" Female Level 33

Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip, Helping Hand, Sand Attack, Growl, Quick Attack, Bite - Heritage:''' Mother: --Father: --

Topaz was gifted to Sagira by Jay's mom at the same time that he received her sister, Raven (a shiny eevee). Like her sister, Topaz is very quiet, but not nearly as aloof. Speaking only when she has something to say, Topaz is very calm, collected, and while she is intelligent, she is also naive in the ways that the world works - something that causes a rift between she and her sister, Raven, who understands the darkness of the world.

For a long time, the only one that Raven would speak to was Topaz. Likewise, Topaz rarely spoke to anyone other than her sister. The two are as nice to each other as is necessary, but their personalities are so vastly different that they are often at odds. Topaz is distinctly annoyed by Raven's frequent response, "whatever," and tends to mock her for it.

Unlike other eevee, Topaz has brown eyes with orange-gold speckles, which is why Sagira named her as she did. Topaz has dreams of Sagira getting a fire stone and evolving her into a beautiful and powerful Flareon. Topaz is completely oblivious to Calypso's feelings for her.

Taikyrus Smythe
Of her two parents, Sagira has always been closest to her father. One of the top scientists of Aqua, Taikyrus was a genius who took his job seriously when necessary, but also enjoyed having fun. One of his quirks is that he enjoys teasing his daughter and pulling pranks on people, though most people don't know this because of his facade as having a serious demeanor, and so he rarely gets caught.

Taikyrus' first pokemon was a meowth, which eventually evolved into a persian. His constant companion, Socrates has never been seen to have been put inside of his pokeball. Taikyrus speaks to this feline like he was a human, and is confident that the cat understands him.

Deeply in love with his wife, Alejandra, Taikyrus could be particularly romantic when he felt the need, often taking his wife out to dinner at a fancy restaurant. He is also a talented ballroom dancer - a trait that he has passed onto his daughter, whom he also taught to dance.

Taikyrus did not spoil Sagira, but there was no mistaking that she was his little girl. When he disappeared, Sagira was horribly distraught and spent a long time grieving his disappearance. Because of the cruel actions and words of other trainers, she eventually replaced her sorrow with anger and became cold and bitter toward other trainers. She vows to find and, if necessary, rescue her missing father, who she is certain was taken captive by Magma.

It was revealed in Revelations that Taikyrus is actually a powerful psychic, who communicates with his daughter through a dream in order to give her hope that he is still alive, and tell her about the male ralts, who she is to take as her companion. Taikyrus, despite his absence, remains a strong force in Sagira's life, his lessons often helping her make decisions. Jay Lange also reminds her of her father; something that, perhaps, helped their relationship to grow.

Alejandra Smythe
Sagira's mother, not a great deal has yet been revealed about Alejandra Smythe. A teacher at the pokemon academy in Viridian City, she is a soft-spoken and kind-hearted woman. Alejandra has long, curly dark brown hair and smoke-blue eyes. She is a hopeless romantic and enjoys watching soap operas and reading romance novels. She doesn't like action movies and forbid her daughter to watch the famous spy-show Catch as Catch Can on television when she was little - a rule that she and her father broke regularly.

Alejandra is primarily a grass-pokemon trainer, her main pokemon a female roselia named Violet Sunshine. Violet acted as something of a nanny to Sagira when she was little, babysitting her, as well as working to help clean up around the house. It is a known and supported fact in their household that Violet Sunshine has a relationship with Alejandra's male Bellossom, DragonSnap. She also has a female Arbok, who is the mother of Sagira's first pokemon, Serenity.

Surprisingly, Alejandra did not object to her daughter leaving for Noverus on a self-proclaimed mission to find her father, and it has been hinted that she may know more than she lets on about Taikyrus' disappearance.

She was not bothered as much as Sagira by the rumors others started concerning Taikyrus' disappearance.

Darik Black
Unknown.

Matthew Jeremiah "Mattie" Dominique
Mattie has been Sagira's best friend since they were both very young. About the same height as Sagira, with wild and unruly blonde hair, Mattie has light blue eyes and a mass of freckles. Unlike Sagira, he has a very positive outlook on life and, while he takes things seriously, he has a good sense of humor. Mattie always had a very good relationship with Sagira's father, Taikyrus, who introduced the two by framing Sagira for a prank played on Mattie, white involved maple syrup and a large amount of caterpie (which may, in fact, be the reason that Mattie is afraid of bug pokemon).

Mattie was friends with a group of kids who attacked Sagira. When she fought back against them, battling their pokemon with her ekans, Serenity, and her houndour, Umbrae, she ended up killing the one girl, Ezira's, pidgey. She suffered guilt for the death of the pokemon and spent some time worrying that Mattie would hate her for what she did. The boy found no reason for her to be to blame and the friendship between he and the group of kids was broken, him deciding that Sagira was a much more loyal and worthy friend than they.

Mattie once rescued Serenity and Sagira from an attack by a trainer's pidgeotto, with help from his main pokemon, a female growlithe named Danika.

There are hints of a romantic relationship between Sagira and Mattie, and she often regrets coming to Noverus and leaving he and Viridian City behind.

Jacob Lange
Sagira met Jay when she was assigned to him during her second mission (Recon). He was a newly recruited agent given little information about his job, as well as the wrong address of where to meet his mission partner. From a different sector than Jay, Sagira was angry at her Commanding Officer for splitting her up from Ivy Kylarian, her team partner during her first mission (The Derelict Warehouse), and when she learned that she was to be teamed with someone different, as well as a rookie and a boy, she was even more pissed off. This led to her characteristic ire toward him when they first met being even greater than it may have been otherwise. Despite this, however, Sagira could not keep herself from admitting that the boy was remarkably attractive, though she denied this greatly and berated herself for mentioning such things mentally.

From the getgo, Sagira, normally quite rude toward everyone she doesn't like (which is most people), was on Jay's case about everything and he, normally a rather calm individual, was riled by her attitude. The two seemed to be exact opposites and their bickering quickly became an expected and almost welcome thing.

It was during their first mission together that the two showed their loyalty to the cause and each other as team mates, but saving each others' lives at one point. The attraction they had for each other was not lessened by this, though some of the animosity was. After they succeeded in their mission and returned to Sagira's base, Jay showed his true colors when he rescued Sagira from her Commanding Officer, who had been attempting to get her to his room after she ran into the hall, suffering from a horrible memory-induced nightmare. It was after his threats to expose Elite II Dawson for the fraud that he was that the two were named traitors and forced to flee.

On the run from Aqua, who considered them traitors, Sagira and Jay posed as husband and wife - an awkward relationship that, surprisingly, became second nature relatively quickly. Despite some mishaps along the way, the two grew closer and protected each other through their trials while on the run (On the Lam; Revelations), and during their attempts to prove their innocence and reveal Dawson for what he was.

Elite II Dawson
Elite II Dawson was Sagira's Commanding Officer when she became a member of Aqua. She remained mostly professional around him, except when she lost her temper at learning that she was to be partnered with a rookie from another sector, after her initial mission.

It was after her second mission as an Aqua grunt, and her first partnered with Jacob Lande (Recon), that Dawson attempted to coerce her into his personal quarters. His attempt failed when Jay stepped in, but he revealed his true colors when he named them both traitors and they were forced to flee.

During Revelations, Sagira and Jay worked to prove their innocence by gathering information on Dawson. With help from Jay's CO, Officer Bryce, they were able to put Dawson behind bars for a number of felonies, not the least of which was sexual offenses toward lower members of Aqua.

Unfortunately, Bryce later received a call that Dawson had escaped, and though he never revealed this information to Sagira or Jay, it is possible that he may be a problem in the future.