[attr="class","rostername"]@drake

[attr="class","rostersub"]an [eighteen] year old [researcher] from [fortree city]

[attr="class","rostercat"]DRAKE STERLING

[attr="class","rostercat"]18

[attr="class","rostercat"]MALE

[attr="class","rostercat"]PANSEXUAL

[attr="class","rostercat"]RESEARCHER

[attr="class","rostercat"]FLYING

[attr="class","rostercat2"]It seems that Drake is always smiling. It’s rarely a broad grin that splits his face, but rather a soft, serene smile, perhaps even a bit mysterious – or maybe just distant. He has a positive outlook on life, but he’s not one of those people who are bubbling with optimistic energy. He’s more of a go-with-the-flow kind of guy. Life sucks sometimes, but he believes that, in the end, things will sort themselves out if you just have patience. And he does have it – possibly too much of it. He used to be the sort of person who would just sit back and let life happen to him rather than grabbing it by the reins, though recently he’s started taking more initiative.

But that original mindset still resurfaces at times. When faced with hardship, he tends to back down rather than pushing through it, though necessity might force him to become more resilient. After all, it’s not exactly good form to back out of a Pokémon battle halfway through just because you’re losing, and if he happens to encounter those who wish to harm him or his Pokémon, he’ll have no choice but to resist with all of his strength.

Many people would describe Drake as a bit spacey. It’s not like he’s completely removed from reality, and he’s fully capable of listening to others and holding a conversation, but it seems that he’s never completely present. When speaking, he doesn’t make full eye contact with whoever he’s talking to. It always looks like he’s staring at something just above their head or over their shoulder, something that only he can see. But really, he’s not focusing his eyes on anything at all; he just picks a spot to rest them and then sort of tunes out visually, concentrating more on his other senses as opposed to sight.

He is mostly coherent and he doesn’t trip over his words (though he does say ‘ah’, ‘hmm’, and the like a lot), but it’s not uncommon for him to trail off, sometimes even in the middle of a sentence. He speaks softly and rather slowly, rarely raising his voice, not even in excitement. He doesn't mind small talk, at times he can be rather off-putting – he always tries his best to be polite, which often leads to him being more formal than necessary. These factors, coupled with a tendency to ramble, have pushed more than a few people away – but that's all right, because there are plenty more Magikarp in the sea.

He’s a daydreamer, and often has his head in the clouds, metaphorically speaking. Whenever he’s not engaged in an activity – or, sometimes, even when he is – he frequently finds himself lost in thought, and time can pass quickly without him realizing it. He makes sure to set alarms on his phone whenever something important is coming up, because otherwise he might accidentally miss it. Though he can be lazy and doesn’t always take advantage of opportunities if they require a lot of hard work, he still has goals and aspirations. He's loved Flying-types for as long as he can remember, and he considers himself a researcher, sort of. He's not interested in one particular area of study; he'd like to learn anything he can about them, and knowledge that concerns them is one of the few things that he will actively seek out – though if some specific bit of information proves to be too elusive, he might decide that it's not worth the effort. He doesn't want to become a world-famous Flying-type scholar, and he doesn't even care if he's well-known locally – he just wants to improve the lives of as many Flying-types as possible, and hopefully learn a thing or two about them and from them along the way.

Though he doesn't wish to pursue a career in the subject, he's quite interested in astronomy, particularly those aspects of the field that relate to stars and the constellations they form. On quiet nights with mild weather, he can often be found outside, staring up at the sky, identifying constellations that already exist, as well as connecting stars together to form new ones, personal secret constellations that belong to him and him alone – as well as any people or Pokémon that he chooses to share them with. In general, he's curious about anything that concerns the sky or space – some parts of meteorology and climatology, for example. His mother worked at the Weather Institute in Hoenn, and while he's far from an expert, he is somewhat knowledgeable about those subjects.

Drake values freedom and equality, believing that people and Pokémon should be able to do what they want as long as they do not harm others, and that everyone should have access to resources that will lead to a more meaningful life, though he still believes that even for those in unfortunate situations, things will work themselves out eventually. He doesn’t catch Pokémon unless they agree to it, and whenever possible, he tries to keep them out of their Poké Balls. He also values beauty, though of course this is subjective, and he's more concerned with the beauty of nature than the beauty of people or Pokémon. He doesn't judge others on their appearance – as far as he's concerned, everyone is attractive in their own special way.

Despite his generally calm persona, Drake has a somewhat adventurous side. He’s not an intrepid explorer, but he enjoys being out and about in nature, taking peaceful walks in the woods with no particular destination in mind. One of his favorite things to do is soar through the sky on the back of a Pokémon. Having lived in Fortree City for most of his life, he’s comfortable with heights, and used to being outdoors. Urban environments are a bit foreign to him, and whenever he’s in the heart of a large city, surrounded only by buildings with no trees in sight, he finds himself longing for his hometown.

[attr="class","rostercatsub2"]PERSONALITY

[attr="class","rostercat2"]Drake's parents were both born in Hoenn, though they hailed from different parts of the region. His father was a freelance artist, primarily a painter of watercolor landscapes on postcards and cards for other occasions, but had a part-time job working at the Lilycove Museum. His mother lived in Fortree City and worked at the Weather Institute, frequently traveling throughout the region to collect data. They met when his mother visited the museum during one of her trips; they 'clicked' from the start, and despite their different professions, they had a lot in common, namely their love of nature and the beauty of the natural world.

They were both in their early twenties at the time, and they decided to hold off on marriage until they were older. They dated for six years before making the decision to tie the knot; by this point, Drake's father had moved to Fortree City to live with his beloved, and instead of taking another part-time job, he worked full-time on his art, running a modest little shop out of their treehouse home.

Shortly after their marriage, they decided to have a kid. Drake was fairly easygoing as a baby; he would fuss and cry and do all of the normal things that babies do, but he never caused them any real trouble. As a child, he never seemed quite as engaged as other kids his age. Rather than run around or play sports, he preferred to wander slowly through the nearby forest. Naturally, his parents were concerned for his safety, and they sought the help of a friendly Tropius who lived in the woods, asking her to keep an eye on their son whenever they were too busy to do so.

The Tropius did not have a name and did not feel the need for one, but she accepted the nickname that young Drake gave her: 'Banana', which was perhaps the most obvious name possible, but it worked. She was an easy-going and slow-moving Pokémon, always taking her time and never fretting, and the two got along fabulously.

He didn't have many human friends, and this was fine with him. He was content being alone, or just in the presence of Pokémon. It wasn't that he was hated the idea of making friends; he just didn't go out of his way to interact with others, and few of his peers seemed to share his interests.

Drake's performance in school was less than stellar. During his elementary school years, he did quite well – his teachers all agreed that he had a 'good head on his shoulders' – but as he reached middle and high school, his grades began to drop, thanks to his lack of motivation. He learned all of the required material, but when the work became difficult, he wouldn't try very hard. But his grades were just barely good enough for him to graduate.

His parents were not content to let him just sit around at home after his graduation. They politely but firmly told him that he needed to get his act together and do something. It was decided that he would travel, and attempt to learn more about and train Pokémon – he had always had some interest in doing so, but because he was so unmotivated, he only did what was required of him for school, and he had never owned any Pokémon.

Though he had long since grown old enough to navigate the local woods by himself, he and Banana had remained friends, and he was sad to leave her – but she had a family to watch over, and could not travel with him.

After some deliberation, Drake and his parents determined that it would be best if he left Hoenn to get a 'fresh start' in another region. They decided on Inset – a family friend, an old woman who used to work at the Weather Institute with his mother, had retired and moved there some years ago, and she would be happy to let him stay with her for a while and teach him a bit more about training before he began his journey.

His parents gave him enough money to take care of himself, though they cautioned him to spend it wisely, and after a few weeks of preparation, he departed for Inset, feeling a bit more motivated than usual. He felt that even if he spent all of his time lazing around, he would probably turn out all right, but he figured that perhaps it was time to take matters into his own hands and make the most of what life had to offer before it just passed him by. And, hopefully, he would enrich the lives of others along the way.

[attr="class","rostercatsub2"]HISTORY