Shion Kitakami

Shion Kitakami is a trainer from Violet City, Johto, who is currently challenging the Johto League.

History
Born to Arata Kitakami, a Pokémon Center employee, and Hitomi Kitakami, a bartender, Shion's story as a trainer doesn't begin at the usual age of ten, but eight years later. Though she wanted to become a trainer earlier, her parents refused, as she was an extremely mean child. They assumed she would mistreat her Pokémon, so, instead, each week they made her volunteer at the city's Pokémon Center, so she could see what the results of mistreating a Pokémon looked like. This had a profound effect upon Shion; she continued to volunteer on her own accord, and on her 17th birthday, her parents agreed to let her start her journey when she turned 18.

Shion opted, not for one of the three starters that a trainer usually gets in Johto, but to take a Spearow from her cousin Rodney. This choice was intentional, as Spearow have a very aggressive temperament, and Shion wanted to see how badly she really wanted to be a trainer by starting out with an unruly Pokémon. The relationship started badly, as this Spearow didn't like being coddled after a loss in battle, but after two weeks of pecking Shion relentlessly, and her not backing down, the two of them warmed up to each other. Feeling better about her choice, the two of them ventured out of Violet City at last.

Now that she had finally matured, Shion proved to be quite the trainer. After acquiring more Pokémon, including a Scyther from a bug-catching contest in the National Park, she began a run of winning against other trainers that sparked whispers in the Johto League. These whispers finally caught the attention of the League Office, and they offered Shion the chance to take part in a trainer exchange program with the Hoenn League, just six months after becoming a trainer. She accepted their offer.

Hoenn
Arriving in Rustboro City, Shion met her guide, a trainer named Katie Fallow. Katie made no effort to mask her disdain for this assignment, even asking Shion why she had to 'babysit some fool from Johto'. Insulted, Shion demanded a three-on-three battle: her Victreebel, Fearow, and Cloyster soundly defeated Katie's Swampert, Cacturne, and Solrock. After this, Katie became much more tolerable; the two have been friends ever since. They traveled together for a month, Katie explaining the geography, and the many species of Pokémon which were new to Shion. During a week-long stay in Lavaridge Town, Shion expressed interest in Flannery's Slugma after watching a battle. While looking for one in the Fiery Path, the two trainers found a Magcargo abandoning her Slugma child. Heartbroken, Shion approached it, and it began to follow her back out of the Fiery Path. They allowed it to tail them back to Lavaridge, where Shion caught it.

Shion spent another month in Hoenn, until she and Katie arrived back at her home in Lilycove. It was at this time that she discovered her fatal allergy to Tamato berries after eating some of Katie's spaghetti. This near-death experience forced her to return home.

Back in Johto
After returning, Shion spent a month recovering. After she was healed, and now that she finally had a Fire-type, Shion began challenging more advanced trainers, especially those with Steel-types. For a year and a half, she fought all over Johto, eventually earning so much income, that she began paying the bills for her parents while she lived at their house. Even when facing full teams with only five Pokémon, the bond she had forged with her companions, especially Maggie and Cirrus, generally won her the fight. This stint in Johto again got her a call from the League Office, this time to head to Sinnoh.

Sinnoh
Due to her experience, on this excursion Shion was assigned no guide. She stayed in Sinnoh for six months, mesmerized by its beauty and climate. However, after noting that she had been unable to make any more friends during her stay, she became sad and homesick, and returned to Violet City to be with her parents.

Home Again
To Shion's surprise, her parents said that they believed she was mature enough to have a home of her own. However, to their surprise, Shion revealed that she had been saving up money for just such an eventuality. She moved out, into a house on the other end of the street from the Pokémon Center. Afterwards, though, she became very lonely. Seeing this, her parents introduced her to social networking, and the rest is history. After meeting several people, among them her new best friend Ashley, she was inspired to take the Johto League Gym Challenge at last. After admitting her sexuality, she dated the head of the Elite Four, Karen, for a while, before the two broke up after a drunken argument, though they have since reconciled and become friends again. Sometime later, Shion became quite close to Ashley after her departure from Team Rocket, and finally admitted her love during their vacation in Kanto, officially becoming a couple. This relationship eventually collapsed, and now Shion is trying to figure out how to make amends while preparing to challenge the Kanto side of the Indigo Conference.

Appearance
Shion is five feet, seven inches tall, with a pale olive complexion, blue eyes, and black hair that currently falls to her shoulders. Since she's started a regular regimen of exercise, she has become quite toned and athletic-looking, though her 'chubby' hips continue to plague her. She tends to wearing very casual clothing, shying away from skirts and preferring jeans above everything else. She will show some skin on occasion, and has finally built up enough courage to buy a bikini. It is extremely rare to see her without her glasses, which she wears for myopia.

Personality
Shion is something of a perfectionist, and can be extremely hard on herself. She is also very, very protective of her Pokémon; when she loses a battle, she always blames herself for the loss. Due to all the meanness she exuded as a child, she is now very introverted, and constantly worries about offending or hurting someone's feelings. This over-carefulness makes it very hard for her to make friends, as she won't really open herself up to anyone in fear of doing something wrong. What few friends she does have, she worries constantly about, getting upset when something bad, even minor, happens to them. Although slow to anger, once finally provoked she is capable of extremely violent outbursts of a verbal and, albeit rarely, physical nature. She is homosexual, something she had struggled with for most of her teen years before finally admitting it to herself and her parents a few months ago. As a trainer, Shion is eerily quiet; in fact, most of her Pokémon react to physical cues more so than verbal ones during a fight, although Shion will talk more if she feels her side is winning. She is gracious in both victory and defeat, commonly posing for a picture with the opponent's Pokémon, if they have a species she's never seen before. It is her even -- if sometimes goofy -- temperament and demeanor that has allowed her to maintain her career as a professional trainer.

Ashley
An ex-Rocket grunt that was formerly Shion's best friend. Neither of them can really place the circumstances of their first meeting. Shion harbored a crush on Ashley for quite some time, but figured she was unattainable until she recently broke up with her boyfriend Alex Cena. During a trip to Cerulean so Ashley could visit her mother's grave, Shion declared her love, and the two have been virtually inseparable ever since...at least until Ashley ran off, sending Shion into a tailspin.

Karen
Shion's first serious relationship was with the Dark-type head of the Indigo Elite Four. Things were going very well until Karen's termination by Lance, which sent her into a spiral of alcohol-fueled despair, something Shion was not sure how to cope with. The final straw came when the two had a very heated argument, and Karen was kicked out of Shion's house. They have again become friends, though Shion has not quite yet forgiven Karen for the way she acted before their break-up.

Johto League
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