Allison

Allison is one of the shifters in the current game, and had been one for 3 days before arriving to Vertia.

As a human
Because of the game, Allison gained several inches in height to reach a solid 5'10" and a complexion the smooth cream of a skinned almond. She is mostly lean and willowy in body structure, but her thighs are dense with muscle as if she were a dancer. The elegant poise in which she carries herself and the grace of her stride grant her a rather sophisticated presence, though it is largely unintentional from her. However, this is offset by the biker outfit that she awoke in.

Allison’s hair changed drastically for the game as well. Upon waking, she discovered her hair turned stark white except for the shaved undercut around the bottom portion of her head that remained black. The rest of her hair is long, and she keeps it tied up in a high ponytail where the lengthy strands reach her hips with a few wild curls springing outwards. Her bangs are cut straight across, though there are two pieces of long hair on either side of her face that hang down to her chest. These two pieces have sharp waves toward the end that mimic that shape of a lightning bolt. Her eyebrows are thin, black, and arched sharply at the ends.

Her face is somewhat long in shape and narrow. Like Cassandra, her eyes are a piercing electric blue, though Allison’s are framed by long, thick white lashes and bright yellow eyeliner on the bottom eyelid and black over the top. Her lips are full and dark naturally, but transforming grants her near-black lipstick over the true color. A pair of blue thunderbolt earrings sit on each earlobe and a couple black hoops encircle the outer edges.

Original clothes
She wears a matte-black leather motorcycle jacket with a throat-latching collar and a zipper down the front, and a matching pair of skinny black jeans. White bands decorate the entire ensemble: one across the jacket over her collar bone, just below her throat, with jagged end points; another over the curve of her chest in a crescent shape that meets at the jacket's hems at the junction of sleeve and shoulder, where the white continues in a loop across said hems; a third that stretches over the mid-back of the jacket with bolt-shaped points that reach around her waist; two bands on the sleeves of the jacket just below the elbow; the backside of the jacket’s collar in another crescent shape. The jeans display a similar pattern. A bolt of white wraps around the seat of her jeans, and another band circles each leg at mid-thigh that is kinked with an upward point on the side of both legs. A pair of black combat boots lace up to her knees, but also sport two white buckles that imitate the striped pattern on the sleeves of her jacket. The toe section of the boots are gray instead of black. Beneath her jacket, she wears a simple black and white striped tank top, though she rarely ever unzips her jacket to expose it. Her fingernails are painted the same shade of gray as that on the toes of her boots.

As a Pokémon
Allison is a rather tall Zebstrika, with longer horns atop her head than the average of her kind. Her striped pattern is slightly more bold than others to even out the proportion of white-to-black coloration. The stripe on her nose, however, is much thinner and shorter than other Zebstrikas.

Backstory
Allison has never believed in destiny. Even as a little girl, she believed that someone’s fate was decided by them and their actions alone, not some mysterious outside force that meddled in people’s lives. Her twin sister Cassandra was convinced otherwise. It didn’t bother Allison much at first, because she loved Cass more than she loved anything in the whole world; with her sister, Allison was brave, she was fun, and she was happy. Cassandra made all of the shadows seem less daunting. As little girls, Allison-- then “Allie” or “Alice” to her twin-- didn’t mind that they were virtually the same person. She loved having everything in common with her sister. Here was someone who understood every part of her already built into her life! But, like all things, this came to change with time as the girls grew older.

Allison was the first to understand what was happening. They were growing apart. Cass was a non-stop bullet train that barreled ahead into her life without fear or doubt, a fiery spirit that dampened for no-one and didn’t let failure ruin her day. Allison watched her sister blossom at a young age. Cass was talented, which Allison admired greatly, and she channeled all of her energy into striving for her goal as a Champion racer. Allison attended every race and every practice if she could. Yet, there was something nagging at the back of her mind each time she sat on the sidelines, cheering for Cass on the back of a Ponyta as she thundered across the finish line. It wasn’t until a little while later that Allison realized that they weren’t the same. They began to argue about little things, like which music to listen to, which friends to hang out with, what to do on a Saturday night. It was silly, but it bothered Allison greatly. She sat on their bed for hours at a time, thinking and dreaming and wondering about life-- about herself. It took some time, but eventually, Allison came to the conclusion that she didn’t want to be the same as Cass. She couldn’t. Allison wasn’t a great racer. She wasn’t enthusiastic about making new friends or raring for some grand new journey. This revelation frightened her greatly, because if she and Cass weren’t the same, then who was she? Allison realized she had nothing of herself, nothing personal or unique of her own. Everything was Cass. Frustrated and feeling alone for the first time in her life, Allison withdrew from her familiar world, shutting herself away from everyone in attempt to hold in the panic that threatened to overcome her at anytime. She stopped going to Cass’s races, because the sudden jealousy that spurted over Cass’s success and the guilt that followed was too much to bear. Instead, Allison threw herself at the only thing she could find comfort in: books. Lots and lots of books. She studied nearly every chance of the day she got, hoping that somewhere in the monotonous text that some spark of life would jump out at her and strike her with that life-altering “AHA!” moment. She excelled in her classes and stood proudly in the top percentage of her peers. Yet, she still did not feel like her own person. She felt shrouded in Cass’s shadow, both in the promise of her twin’s bright future and in Cass’s confidence that they would remain together forever. Allison began to detest the idea. She wanted to be herself, without Cass’s influence or imprint, but nothing yielded itself to her as her special niche. She couldn’t possibly have been destined to be the cheerleader, right?

Their fights grew more climactic. Allison cut her hair off short, to which Cass reacted very negatively (and Allison secretly enjoyed). She found another home for the Minun their parents had given her alongside Cass’s Plusle, because if she was going to raise a Pokemon it was going to be one she caught on her own and nothing tied to the sister that outshone her. Eventually, she even moved all of her own things into her own room and worked hard to alter her appearance. She wanted to share nothing with Cassandra; not even their face.

Allison made a lot of changes since, and the gradual separation from her twin felt like a weight lifting off of her shoulders. Yet it wasn’t long until she noticed Cass creeping back into her life. Her twin hung around more, looking for ways to include herself in Allison’s activities. She listened to Allison’s music without complaint, read some of Allison’s books, and even tried wearing the same style of make-up. It wasn’t until Allison found Cass wearing one of her new shirts one morning that Allison finally lost her patience. All of her bottled up frustrations came tumbling out in a mess of curses and words that stung at Cassandra with intent to cast her away. And much to Allison’s surprise, it worked. Cass seemed to disappear overnight. They rarely saw each other outside of school, despite sharing the same roof. Allison was simultaneously relieved and saddened by this. She didn’t want to hurt Cass-- even if she was angry in the moment-- but there were no words she could use to explain what she felt to the twin that had always thought they were meant to be together for the rest of their lives. So Allison decided to use this distance to her advantage. She explored different avenues and ways of expression over the years. Her hair changed colors, her fashion switched styles, and so on. Her excellence in school granted her a scholarship to a College of BioScience in Kalos where she was recruited to study evolution in Pokemon and the dramatic changes that rapidly developed in that brief moment of time. It was there that Allison met Eloise. She fell for Eloise like a boulder down a hill; in barely any time at all, Allison was wrapped around her finger, eager to do whatever Eloise requested. Love for Allison was never simple, though. She juggled her feelings for Eloise-- which were only occasionally reciprocated, she found, and usually only when it suited Eloise-- and the guilt and regret that followed Cass’s leave. In addition, Allison still didn’t know who she was or what she wanted to do with herself. She struggled to contain these emotions for a long time, and they ate away at her and festered deep in her heart for nearly a year. By the time Cass returned, Allison’s negativity was close to boiling over. Still, she tried connecting to her twin. A yawning emptiness had settled in her with Cass’s departure, and she yearned to fill it with her sister’s warmth. Like all things for Allison, it didn’t last long. Cass began to question Eloise’s intentions. She made offhanded comments that needled Allison’s resolve. When Cass finally broached the subject outright, Allison shut her out again and refused to hear anything else regarding Eloise’s integrity.

But when Cass instead went to their parents, inevitably revealing Allison’s sexual orientation before she was ready, the rage in Allison exploded. She denounced Cass outright and left their hometown as quickly as possible in shame and fury.

Allison spent the night in a cheap hotel in a small town several hours away. Of course, she couldn’t sleep, so she lay curled on the grimy mattress wiping away the hot tears that muddied her face and muttering curse after curse. That’s when she heard a bizarre, deep voice echo softly through the room, imploring her about her greatest desires. Although startled, Allison found herself responding to the voice. She told it she wanted to be alone, to never have had a sister to begin with, so that she could be herself completely. She told the voice bitterly, “I’d give up loving anything ever again just to have my own life and no sister to ruin it.” Almost immediately, the hotel room disappeared into blackness, leaving Allison suspended in a shadowy void. The voice remained. It explained something about a game, and the rules that accompanied it. Allison considered the option before her for a long moment. In her mind, all of the pain that she endured was caused by Cass’s incessant and childlike need to be together. All of Allison’s problems would be solved with one single wish, if only she could win this game… A cold indifference began to displace the hesitation she felt. A moment later she accepted, and was plunged completely into darkness.

Something large and warm was pressed against her when the first inklings of consciousness began to drag her out of slumber. When it moved, Allison’s eyes flew open, and she was suddenly inches from the face of an unfamiliar woman who was gazing curiously down at her. Her heart skipped at the unexpected surprise, and without warning her skin grew warm and a bright light enveloped her. She found, with increasing mortification, that her body had morphed into something else entirely. Long, sturdy black and white equine legs held her in place, though the quite abrupt change in body structure made her head swim and her new legs threatened to fold under her from the intensity of the spins. The woman who had been beside her was equally as startled, because a split moment later [i]she[/i] changed, and then Allison was face to face with a Pyroar. An honest to Arceus Pyroar.

Allison was the first to remember something about rules. Though neither of them understood why and how they could suddenly shift into Pokemon (though she’d never seen something like what she was, her new companion swore up and down that her Pokemon was called a Zebstrika), they eventually agreed that staying together would be more beneficial than wandering the roads for Team Helix. Whoever that was. Three days they are into their journey, and Allison still isn’t any closer to figure out what Team Helix is, who she is, and what that strange ache in her heart is about.

Shortly after transforming for the first time, a little bug Pokemon scurried up her leg and nestled itself into her spiky mane. He was attracted by her electricity, but even once she reverted back into a human, the little Joltik was too enamored by Allison and her friend to leave. Though she pretends not to care for him, Allison enjoys his company.

Personality
Allison’s juxtaposition with her twin is extremely cliche. Her cold exterior contrasts Cass’s almost to a ridiculous extent as if they were two faces to the same coin. Where Cass is sunny and extroverted, Allison is reserved, stoic, and emotionally controlled-- or at least, enough to keep others from reading her like an open book like Cass. She never found much use for surrounding herself with a lot of friends, and so became intensely selective of her company. Her curiosity is bound more in academia, unlike Cass’s desire to explore the outside world. The bookworm in Allison dominates a good portion of her time, as she devotes large portions of her day to reading or learning about new concepts or developing her science to perfection. She prefers solitude mostly, but she cannot deny there is also a part of her that cannot stand to be alone. The internal struggle over her contrasting desires and her identity remains the largest war she battles. Though in the game she does not remember why, Allison still suffers from an emotional pain that she can’t quite identify.

Demeanor wise, Allison appears to be aloof and distant, preferring to gauge a person’s trustworthiness before allowing them to get close. She often comes across as disinterested or dismissive because of this, when in reality she is learning as much about her subject as she can. She has a hard time relating to strangers right off the bat and therefore appears to lack empathy or compassion upon getting to know other people, but given time, Allison can become fiercely protective of those she has learned to trust and cherish. Loving is never easy for her, but when she does, she does so with all of her being.

Arrow
Arrow is a male Aerodactyl. He has a Lonely nature, the ability Pressure, and the moves Iron Head, Ice Fang, Sky Drop, and Rock Slide.

Trivia

 * She’s very, very gay, and very, very bad at romance.