FA+
Shop
PCA in-depth character meme - Nicole
17 years ago
Well time for another one of these I guess, work has been boring today. This time we'll go with everyone's least favorite psychokitty, Nikki.
Nicole Hunter Blackclaw
Home Life:
- Nicole and her family live in a very nice, very expensive, and very luxurious mansion in the hills to the northeast of Viridian City. Their closest neighbor is about half a mile away and lives in an equally opulent home (think Hollywood Hills). The estate is actually a little smaller than many would expect, her father Felix didn't want "more rooms than I'll ever have time to see". The grounds support a large pool, spacious garage, fully-functional training gym, the works. A small staff tends to the maintenance of the grounds, and the family employs a butler/caretaker/chauffer/all-around assistant named Owen (a pidgeot).
- Nicole rarely spends any time in her room, usually it's just to sleep, and even then she often crashes in other rooms of the house. There are still stuffed animals, outdated posters, toys, and other items strewn about her room from when she was very young. She hasn't kept them around for any kind of sentiment, but rather she just hasn't seen any reason to get rid of them and replace them with something else, seeing as how she doesn't spend much time in there anyway. The one thing in there that she does have sentiment for is an old, worn-out, (but very comfortable) beanbag chair that often gets drug around to other rooms of the house. It's black and silvery-gray with the faded, barely visible emblem of a professional pokeball team on one side.
- Between her mother’s acting career and the demands of her father's business there are often long stretches of time when neither of her parents are home. Nicole's parents trust her to take care of herself but still have Owen keep an eye on things. Nicole thinks she gets away with much more than she actually does, the pidgeot is much more observant than she thinks but is quite adept at playing otherwise. He usually keeps her parents up to date on what she's up to but has been known to look the other way from time to time.
Personal Life:
- Nicole has been slowly and steadily evolving into a persian for years now, gradually picking up more and more traits from her mother's side as she's gotten older. Although she isn't vocal about it, the fact that she hasn't yet been able to "take the plunge" grates on her. Her mother has given her plenty of the obligatory "it'll happen when you're ready" talks but Nicole likely would have gotten very frustrated by now if not for the fact that the slow and gradual evolution she's been going through is noticeable, at least to those who know her well.
- Nicole's unusual combat style and fighting abilities began when she was very young and decided that the first step to becoming a great battler would be to learn to defend against her weakness - fighting types. She studied them intently in order to learn how to counter and defend against their attacks and in time learned how to imitate them in a rudimentary fashion. After she was introduced to hitmonlee Grand Master Huangfeili the old master agreed (insisted, actually) to train her because he saw that species and type aside, she had a fighter's spirit. Years of intense training with the wizened old 'mon would allow her to perform many of the attacks and special techniques known to fighting types, but it was not without a cost. The rigorous mental disciplines and focus required in order to effectively learn and master those attacks also rendered her vulnerable to the same type of psychic attacks that are most effective against fighting types. She's aware of this weakness and takes great care to guard it (it remains her secret still). What she doesn't know is that her master trained her with this weakness on purpose, to teach her the importance of balance, and that for every gain, there must be loss. But it's a lesson she has yet to learn.
- As hard as it may be to believe, up until last year Nicole was regarded as one of the nicest and friendliest students at the academy, even if she was a bit egotistical at times. Although most of her former friends have turned away from her in recent times a good many haven't (Mitzi is just the most prominent), and she actually does have a good side. It's just very hard to see because it only comes out when she isn't focused on battles or feeling threatened or disrespected by someone for some reason. Unfortunately this happens very rarely.
School Life:
- Team Jet nearly formed early in Nicole's sophomore year with a different lineup than they have now. Harris and Geoff Skapazi had just transferred to the PCA from another school and were shopping their talents and resume around to join up with a four 'mon team. They had come to an agreement to form a team along with Nicole and Mitzi but at the last minute Nicole backed out, saying that she would prefer to focus on solo battles. Irked by the last minute rejection, the brothers joined up with Team Cobalt, which was being formed by one of Nicole's biggest rivals, Sherilyn.
- During Nicole's freshmen year she broke her arm during a match with a rhydon upperclassman but finished the match anyway. The injury caused her to miss that year's midterm exams, and though she was excused from them, missing out on those points still hurt her overall ranking. She made up for it by spending the next several weeks issuing and accepting challenges from anyone and everyone she could, sometimes fighting in two or three school-sanctioned matches a day, plus training and non-sanctioned matches. She spent winter break of that year recuperating from injuries and exhaustion but did manage to regain her ranking and then some.
- Although it isn't officially recognized, Nicole has a particular parking spot in the student section of the academy's front parking lot that she considers hers. The last 'mon to park in it had his car towed and impounded as a result of several overdue and unpaid tickets, found himself in a match alone against Tenebra, and then had his car and driving privileges taken away altogether by his parents after a tape of him having several drinks at a party somehow made it into their possession. Nice girl.
Love Life:
- Her first actual boyfriend (and "first time", for that matter) was a linoone named Eric. They had been friends for several years before dating but the relationship didn't last very long before they decided that they were better off as "just friends". They remained "friends with benefits" for a while though, until Eric and his family moved away to the Hoenn region. They've been in touch occasionally but recently Eric told her that he's going to be moving back to Viridian City and re-enrolling at the PCA, and she isn't really sure how she feels about that.
- The question of who asked who out first is one that neither Nicole nor Zap can really answer. In truth it was something of a mutual thing after a massive storm took out the power in the arena and caused a match between their two teams to be cancelled. While the arena was being evacuated in response to a flood warning the two hid out in one of the arena's training rooms and... asked each other out. Yeah, that's it...
- Nicole and Zap's relationship is definitely a love-hate one, and grounded in two things. One is the pure physical attraction as well as the physical "satisfaction" that comes with it. The other is the fact that both of them feel the need to be seen with someone important on their arm. Although Nicole won't admit it she sees right through his "dumb jock" image and rather enjoys the variety of mental sparring matches she has with him. If anything she considers him a worthy opponent, which is about as high praise as she's likely to give.
Misc Facts/Quirks:
- The character's name was derived from neko, the Japanese word for cat.
- When she doesn't have any match tapes of upcoming opponents to review, Nicole has a habit of watching cheesy court shows while working out or training. She finds them terribly amusing in a completely low-brow way and often insults the judge or litigants as she watches.
- Nicole has always had a talent for small electronics and can take apart, repair, and modify DVD players, computer equipment, remote controls, and other such devices without much difficulty. She doesn't advertise this fact though for fear of seeming "nerdy".
- Nicole's claws have been diamond-ground, laser-finished, and treated with a molecular bonding process that makes them many times stronger and sharper than normal. Their distinctive golden tint is a side effect of this treatment. The process is quite rare as it is fairly new, very expensive, and generally reserved for the top-tier arena pros. But since her father owns several of those arenas, he doesn't have a problem springing for his little kitten.
- She has a fairly strict diet but she isn't perfect about keeping up with it. She has a weakness for sugary, marshmallowy cereal and sometimes snacks on it straight out of the box.
Nicole Hunter Blackclaw
Home Life:
- Nicole and her family live in a very nice, very expensive, and very luxurious mansion in the hills to the northeast of Viridian City. Their closest neighbor is about half a mile away and lives in an equally opulent home (think Hollywood Hills). The estate is actually a little smaller than many would expect, her father Felix didn't want "more rooms than I'll ever have time to see". The grounds support a large pool, spacious garage, fully-functional training gym, the works. A small staff tends to the maintenance of the grounds, and the family employs a butler/caretaker/chauffer/all-around assistant named Owen (a pidgeot).
- Nicole rarely spends any time in her room, usually it's just to sleep, and even then she often crashes in other rooms of the house. There are still stuffed animals, outdated posters, toys, and other items strewn about her room from when she was very young. She hasn't kept them around for any kind of sentiment, but rather she just hasn't seen any reason to get rid of them and replace them with something else, seeing as how she doesn't spend much time in there anyway. The one thing in there that she does have sentiment for is an old, worn-out, (but very comfortable) beanbag chair that often gets drug around to other rooms of the house. It's black and silvery-gray with the faded, barely visible emblem of a professional pokeball team on one side.
- Between her mother’s acting career and the demands of her father's business there are often long stretches of time when neither of her parents are home. Nicole's parents trust her to take care of herself but still have Owen keep an eye on things. Nicole thinks she gets away with much more than she actually does, the pidgeot is much more observant than she thinks but is quite adept at playing otherwise. He usually keeps her parents up to date on what she's up to but has been known to look the other way from time to time.
Personal Life:
- Nicole has been slowly and steadily evolving into a persian for years now, gradually picking up more and more traits from her mother's side as she's gotten older. Although she isn't vocal about it, the fact that she hasn't yet been able to "take the plunge" grates on her. Her mother has given her plenty of the obligatory "it'll happen when you're ready" talks but Nicole likely would have gotten very frustrated by now if not for the fact that the slow and gradual evolution she's been going through is noticeable, at least to those who know her well.
- Nicole's unusual combat style and fighting abilities began when she was very young and decided that the first step to becoming a great battler would be to learn to defend against her weakness - fighting types. She studied them intently in order to learn how to counter and defend against their attacks and in time learned how to imitate them in a rudimentary fashion. After she was introduced to hitmonlee Grand Master Huangfeili the old master agreed (insisted, actually) to train her because he saw that species and type aside, she had a fighter's spirit. Years of intense training with the wizened old 'mon would allow her to perform many of the attacks and special techniques known to fighting types, but it was not without a cost. The rigorous mental disciplines and focus required in order to effectively learn and master those attacks also rendered her vulnerable to the same type of psychic attacks that are most effective against fighting types. She's aware of this weakness and takes great care to guard it (it remains her secret still). What she doesn't know is that her master trained her with this weakness on purpose, to teach her the importance of balance, and that for every gain, there must be loss. But it's a lesson she has yet to learn.
- As hard as it may be to believe, up until last year Nicole was regarded as one of the nicest and friendliest students at the academy, even if she was a bit egotistical at times. Although most of her former friends have turned away from her in recent times a good many haven't (Mitzi is just the most prominent), and she actually does have a good side. It's just very hard to see because it only comes out when she isn't focused on battles or feeling threatened or disrespected by someone for some reason. Unfortunately this happens very rarely.
School Life:
- Team Jet nearly formed early in Nicole's sophomore year with a different lineup than they have now. Harris and Geoff Skapazi had just transferred to the PCA from another school and were shopping their talents and resume around to join up with a four 'mon team. They had come to an agreement to form a team along with Nicole and Mitzi but at the last minute Nicole backed out, saying that she would prefer to focus on solo battles. Irked by the last minute rejection, the brothers joined up with Team Cobalt, which was being formed by one of Nicole's biggest rivals, Sherilyn.
- During Nicole's freshmen year she broke her arm during a match with a rhydon upperclassman but finished the match anyway. The injury caused her to miss that year's midterm exams, and though she was excused from them, missing out on those points still hurt her overall ranking. She made up for it by spending the next several weeks issuing and accepting challenges from anyone and everyone she could, sometimes fighting in two or three school-sanctioned matches a day, plus training and non-sanctioned matches. She spent winter break of that year recuperating from injuries and exhaustion but did manage to regain her ranking and then some.
- Although it isn't officially recognized, Nicole has a particular parking spot in the student section of the academy's front parking lot that she considers hers. The last 'mon to park in it had his car towed and impounded as a result of several overdue and unpaid tickets, found himself in a match alone against Tenebra, and then had his car and driving privileges taken away altogether by his parents after a tape of him having several drinks at a party somehow made it into their possession. Nice girl.
Love Life:
- Her first actual boyfriend (and "first time", for that matter) was a linoone named Eric. They had been friends for several years before dating but the relationship didn't last very long before they decided that they were better off as "just friends". They remained "friends with benefits" for a while though, until Eric and his family moved away to the Hoenn region. They've been in touch occasionally but recently Eric told her that he's going to be moving back to Viridian City and re-enrolling at the PCA, and she isn't really sure how she feels about that.
- The question of who asked who out first is one that neither Nicole nor Zap can really answer. In truth it was something of a mutual thing after a massive storm took out the power in the arena and caused a match between their two teams to be cancelled. While the arena was being evacuated in response to a flood warning the two hid out in one of the arena's training rooms and... asked each other out. Yeah, that's it...
- Nicole and Zap's relationship is definitely a love-hate one, and grounded in two things. One is the pure physical attraction as well as the physical "satisfaction" that comes with it. The other is the fact that both of them feel the need to be seen with someone important on their arm. Although Nicole won't admit it she sees right through his "dumb jock" image and rather enjoys the variety of mental sparring matches she has with him. If anything she considers him a worthy opponent, which is about as high praise as she's likely to give.
Misc Facts/Quirks:
- The character's name was derived from neko, the Japanese word for cat.
- When she doesn't have any match tapes of upcoming opponents to review, Nicole has a habit of watching cheesy court shows while working out or training. She finds them terribly amusing in a completely low-brow way and often insults the judge or litigants as she watches.
- Nicole has always had a talent for small electronics and can take apart, repair, and modify DVD players, computer equipment, remote controls, and other such devices without much difficulty. She doesn't advertise this fact though for fear of seeming "nerdy".
- Nicole's claws have been diamond-ground, laser-finished, and treated with a molecular bonding process that makes them many times stronger and sharper than normal. Their distinctive golden tint is a side effect of this treatment. The process is quite rare as it is fairly new, very expensive, and generally reserved for the top-tier arena pros. But since her father owns several of those arenas, he doesn't have a problem springing for his little kitten.
- She has a fairly strict diet but she isn't perfect about keeping up with it. She has a weakness for sugary, marshmallowy cereal and sometimes snacks on it straight out of the box.
Rene: Makes me want to hug her all the more...
EVERY girl you meet makes you feel like that!
Rene: True...
Neon: I still wonder what happened to change her friendly disposition so suddenly.
Stiletto: I have a few theories--
Blaze: Stiletto, don't.
Very interesting facts about one of the prominent battlers at the academy. I'm anxious to see how she reacts to her as-of-yet hidden vulnerability to psychics and the meaning behind it.
Sammy: And?
Jake:...And she stabbed me in the gut with her claws. Still have the scars.
Has her training effectively rendered her a fighting pokemon, with all the weaknesses and advantages implied, or has it just been a straight swap out of her fighting weakness for a psychic one?
I forget, is Team Jet senior level?
By the way, I have one, and maybe more to come, question. What school did she go to when she was like 9 or 10, and what was she like back then? THis may seem random, but its an important part of a sory that Im writing that she'll be featured in. Sorry thats taking so long. Ive got some nasty writers block.
Nicole started training with Master Huangfeili when she was eight years old and stopped when she was fourteen, near the end of her freshman year at the PCA. He indicated that her training wasn't complete but for the time being he had nothing more to teach her. At around age nine or ten she was friendly and outgoing, but she was good even at that age and had a bit of an ego developing. It wasn't the condescending attitude she has now, but more of a confident assurance. Kind of a tomboy I guess, she wasn't much into "girls" things at that age.
So by learning fighting moves she made herself vulnerable to psychic moves. Hmm, might this by a problem when she goes and kicks Stella's skiny ass for stealing Zap from her? Granted Zap and Nicole aren't really a couple, but I don't see Nicole as the type to take having her 'worthy opponent' stolen from her sitting down.