Name: Maximilian "Max" Destler
Gender: Male
Hometown: Viridian City
Age: 24
Height: 6' 0"
Weight: between 195 and 210 lbs
Hair: Brown, messy, covering the top half of his ears.
Eyes: Greyish blue-green. It's always bugged him. He has no clear answer to the question "what's your eye colour?"
Facial Features: Nothing out of the ordinary, aside from a slightly defined jaw line. He also has a beard, as he hates to shave. It's kept neat most of the time, but it sometimes slips his mind to keep it trim.
Skin Tone: Just a tad darker then "pale" due to the time he's recently spent outside. He has pretty pale skin naturally though.
Clothing: Khaki cargos, usually linen, usually with a cotton button down shirt, usually khaki, black, or white.
Identifying Marks: A series of scars on the underside of his right forearm, the result of a climbing accident (more on this later).
Musculature: Average, though he's currently in better shape then he normally would be due to how he's spent the last few years of his life.
Personality Type: Naturally Type A. He's arrogant, but kind hearted, most of the time. He does have a darker side, however, that he's aware of and keeps under wraps.
Social Outlook: Enthusiastically pessimistic, if that makes sense.
Blood Type: AB+
Personality Summary: Very intelligent, and very aware of that fact. He's aware of what his personal strengths, which feeds his larger then normal ego. He tends not to acknowledge his faults though, and if they're mentioned to him he'll get defencive. He is aware of them though, and won't criticize someone for having a personality flaw he feels he himself has.
He's always had what can be described as a "hungry mind." When he gets interested in something he reads all there is to know about it, sometimes going over the same things more then once to really gain an understanding of it.
Despite his high opinion of himself he's genuinely a nice guy and will go out of his way to help his friends. He's also not adverse to a good time. Partying's something he's never shied away from.
Battle Style: Offence, though with a bit of a twist. He likes to use defencive moves and strategies as a means to increase offensive capabilities. For example, he'll order his Nidoking to stand and brace itself for a move in the hope that Nidoking's Poison Point will poison the attacker.
He's always thinking offensively. When he orders his Pokémon to dodge he's always looking for ways to turn that into an offensive advantage. He never "dodges for the sake of dodging" if he can help it.
Skills: As was mentioned before, he loves to completley absorb himself in any topic that interests him so he can understand it to its fullest potential. He's also a skilled battler, having great instincts in that field. He's also very smart.
In a less noble light his instincts also allow him to talk his way out of most jams. He always has a sense of the right thing to say to get himself out of trouble. He likes to think he always knows what people want to hear, and most of the time he isn't that far off.
Past: He came from a well to do family, his father was a doctor (humans). He was always interested in Pokémon battling and training, but his father saw to it that he wouldn't leave home at the age of ten to become a trainer, despite Max's objections at the time. He did have his own Pokémon though, a male Nidoran his mother, a former contest competitor caught for him when he was seven. They've been together ever since, it now being a Nidoking.
When Max graduated high school he created a temporary rift with his father when he declined to go to university to finally fulfil his desire to become a trainer. His mother was more understanding of his goals, though she tried to convince him to compromise a bit. He refused though, and set out with his newly evolved Nidoking, looking to take on the Pokémon League in Kanto. He did win the required eight badges in a year and half, including the badge from the mysterious gym leader in his home town, and entered the Indigo League tournament, finishing a respective seventh place.
His father, having watched the tournament at his mother's request, finally accepted Max's skills as a trainer and accepted his decision to live that life. Despite that relationship having been healed, there's still some animosity left between the two that will probably never go away, due to Max's desire to just leave "well enough alone" and not dig up the past.
Despite losing in the Indigo League he wasn't that disappointed in himself and set out to train for next year. Shortly after beginning training, however, he came into the possession of a book of legends detailing the creation of the universe, given to him by his grandmother when his grandfather died. He was particularly drawn to the story of Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza, and set out to Hoenn to find them. He spent four years in that region researching, following up on reported sightings, and refining his skills as a trainer, in an attempt to find the legendary Pokémon. It was during this adventure that he suffered a rock climbing accident and scarred his right forearm. Afterwards he decided that continuing the search was no longer in his best interests and he returned home to Viridian City after years of living on the road in Hoenn, his search for the Sky-Water-Ground trio unsuccessful. He now lives in Viridian, having bought himself an apartment and wondering what exactly he'll do next in his life. He's contemplated heading over to Sinnoh, attracted by the colder climate, himself not a fan of warmer weather and looking for a way to rebound after spending four years in Hoenn.
Family: Father, Dr. Milton Destler, Mother, Kira Destler, and little sister (16) Sarah Destler.
Love Relationships?: He can be a bit of an unlikeable person in this regard. The combination of his ego, plus four years on the move away from home have allowed him to have fallen into the habit of not really thinking of relationships in the long term. He's had flings here and there, but they've never developed into anything long-lasting due to his own instance that they end before they become to long-lasting. Simply put, he's way to critical of other people (them not meeting his own perceived standards) to allow anyone to get to attached to them, and spending four years on the road, never in the same place for long, hasn't helped him break this habit. Simply put, he can less then honourable when it comes to the female species.
Pokémon:
Nidoking (Saul), male
Ability: Poison Point
Nature: Brave
History: Max's first Pokémon. His mother caught the male Nidoran when he was seven. The two have developed a strong friendship over the years. Even when Max was refused permission to start a life as a trainer when he was ten, he still practised training with Saul whenever he could, even earning a reputation as a tough guy to beat among his school mates. Saul's a very brave and rash Pokémon. When still a Nidoran he insisted on trying to protect Max when the two wondered to far away from home and were ambushed by a group of Beedrill in Viridian Forest. A timely arrival of a Pokémon Ranger saved them, but Max has never forgotten that act of braveness on Saul's part. Saul enjoys belly rubs as well. Saul's poison points meant that Max had to be careful when petting him, so petting his belly made the most sense. Even as a Nidoking Saul enjoys the occasional belly rub.
Charizard (Ronson), male
Ability: Blaze
Nature: Calm
History: Max never thought he would have a Charizard. He was awestruck by the image of a Charizard when he was eight, observing a gym battle at the Viridian City Gym. He was determined to pick a Charmander as his "starting" Pokémon in nearby Pallet Town when he was ten, despite already having Saul. When he was denied that opportunity, however, he thought his chances to own a Charizard were gone. After all, they and their pre-evolutions are incredibly rare, and he wasn't going to deny some ten year old his starter by asking for one from that Professor guy down in Pallet Town.
He did find a wild Charmander, however, just outside Cerulean City. At first he thought it was another trainer's having gotten away from them, but Max decided to battle it anyway. His newly evolved Nidoking made short work of the fire lizard, and it was successfully captured in a Pokeball, meaning it was either wild or released. The two are close, due to Max taking every step to be kind and close to him when he was a Charmander, never letting a drop of water get anywhere near his tail. Saul never really felt envious of Ronson, due to Ronson being younger and weaker. Ronson did, however, have a bad habit of trying to bite Ronson's tail when he was younger. Needless to say, Ronson was less then amused.
By the time Ronson evolved into a Charizard, the two Pokémon had developed a friendship of their own, Ronson looking up to Saul.
Kangaskhan (Boxy), female
Ability: Early Bird
Nature: Quirky
History: After leaving home after high school, Max made his way to Fuchsia City to see the Safari Zone. While in the Safari Zone he stumbled on some poachers who had taken a couple Kangaskhan. Max, scared at the time, just stayed low in the grass and waited for them to move on. Upon them leaving he checked the area out himself, and found a baby Kangaskhan alone and crying. He picked it up and comforted it, getting back to the front gate as soon as possible to warn the SZ authorities of the poachers. They had already been warned, and were in the process of trying to track them down. Max stayed in Fuchsia for longer then he intended, visiting the baby Kangaskhan daily, which was put into special care by the SZ staff. The police finally gave up on the chase for the poachers, and Max asked if he could raise the baby himself, now that its mother was gone. The SZ staff said he could if Kangaskhan wanted to, and she happily agreed. The two have been together ever since. She is still relatively young itself, slightly over six years old. Khan has a very quirky and odd personality.
Swampert (Atticus), male
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Rash
History: Lionel was caught as a Mudkip during Max's Hoenn journey. The Mudkip actually found Max, ambushing him as he made his way through the tropical region. Max was a little put off by the development, the Mudkip seemed to small to outright challenge a trainer. Still, he battled it, and after taking it out with Saul's then newly learnt Thunder move, he captured it. Lionel remains very rash, sometimes to its disadvantage. He's also very proud of his power since evolving into a Swampert, and never misses a change to demonstrate it. Lionel also has somewhat of a crush on Cascade.
Torterra (Kenix), male
Ability: Overgrow
Nature: Jolly
History: Max received Kenix as a gift from his parents during his Hoenn journey, picking him up at the Fortree City Pokémon Centre. Kenix, a Turtwig at the time, took a strong liking to Max, vying for his affection. Max paired Kenix up with Cascade, and the two quirky Pokémon gelled. Cascade's strong offensive attacks helped Kenix harden his shell and strengthen his own defences. Kenix, despite becoming more competitive as time went on, still remained very affectionate toward Max. He's had to be reminded countless times he's not a Turtwig anymore since evolving into a Grotle, and then a Torterra. He's become much better at not trying to tackle Max since evolving into his species' final form. He's still a happy, jolly, yet competitive Pokémon though, and Max has done everything to make Kenix feel like part of the team.
Froslass (Eris), female
Ability: Snow Cloak
Nature: Timid
History: The newest and youngest member of Max's team. He caught her as a Snorunt in Hoenn in Shoal Cave, the location being one of the last places Max visited in Hoenn before heading back to Kanto. Eris at first was very timid. In fact she tried to run away when Max first spotted it. She wasn't even caught in the course of a battle. While on her trail Max tossed a spare Poke Ball and caught her. Eris was afraid to battle at first, often running behind Max's leg to hide when called out. Max put his trip back to Kanto on hold, set up a camp, and decided he would help Eris overcome this, staying up all hours of the night training and bonding with the Pokémon. Eris eventually began to gain enough confidence to battle wild Pokémon. As she matured she became less timid and more playful. Due to the sizes of Max's other Pokémon, they can't be out of their Poké Balls for most of the time in towns or cities. Eris, however, always followed him on foot, or sat in his shoulder, or allowed herself to be carried.
Max planned on evolving her into a Glalie, but fate would intervene. His uncle, Erik, had just moved to Eterna City in Sinnoh and had sent a Dawn Stone to the Petalburg City Pokemon Centre for him to pick up. Erik had found the stone in Sinnoh, and thought Max would like one, seeing as they were rare outside of that region. As Max was observing the stone, Eris grabbed it and ran off into some bushes, trying to be playful. A quick white glowing flash later and Eris had evolved into a Froslass. Eris is still playful, and enjoys using her new ghostly powers to play tricks on Max. Though she is still timid and loud noises do startle her, more so then others of her species. She remains out of her Poké Ball as Max's travelling companion, floating at his side as he walks.
ark Brown
