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Description
Name: Joanna (Jo) Sousa
Age: 16
Birthday: January 5
Gender: Female
Height: 5'11
Weight: 154
Hometown: Solaceon Town
Region: Sinnoh

Description:
Jo spent most of her life working on her family's small ranch. She was out feeding the Ponyta's by age five, and by the time she was nine she was responsible for the upkeep of the stables. Due to the immense amounts of mucking required on a working ranch of over thirty Ponyta and Rapidasha Jo quickly muscled up. She has long muscular legs, strong arms, a slim waist but large hips, and broad shoulders, perfect for hauling water buckets or hay bales.

She is just like her mother, sporting sandy blonde hair. Most of the time she has it back in a braid which falls to just halfway down her back. Her eyes are a light green and she has very thick lashes. Freckles cover her face, and she has them across her shoulder and chest as well as all over her arms.

Personality:
She is rash, hasty, has a ridiculous temper. Her father always said she was no good with the Ponyta because she was just as spooky as them, and although she doesn't scare easily she does get very tense very easily.

To her credit, she does try to be loyal to her friends. She knows that sometimes your family isn't there to back you up and you need to rely on people you've met. So she is a very good friend, always trying to make someone laugh if they are sad. She also enjoys telling jokes, especially social commentary ones, as she finds that people themselves are funny enough without anything extra.

She is as stubborn as a tauros though. More often then not her arguments with her father are caused by her refusal to accept that anyone is right except for her. Pair this with her hastiness and Jo has found herself in some sticky situations.

Another thing is that she is adamantly against lying. Even if it compromises her or the situation she is in she never believes that lying is the right thing. This has made her some enemies, but for the most part she didn't want to be close friends with these people.

She can be a bit drifty at times, a trait that gets her in trouble with her father often. There are just days when the Ponyta don't really matter and what does matter is the shape of the clouds in the sky or how in the hell Ashley from town makes her hair stand straight up.

Recap: Short tempered, stubborn, skeptical, driftless, confident, ambitious, humorous, and devoted

Attire:
Jo is not a girl to wear fancy clothing. She is simple, favoring worn band t-shirts and old jeans over fancy sweaters or skirts. It just wasn't practical on a family run ranch to be tromping around the paddocks in Steve Madden boots or delicate sandals. She varies from day to do, but she always has necklace which is a rawhide string threaded though a pokecoin that she shot. She also wears a ring which is five thin silver rings stacked on top of each other and connected with a silver band. It is on her right ring finger.

Casual: She can usually be found in soft, worn vintage band t-shirts. Sometimes she'll throw a flannel over one on brisk mornings, and her preferred flannel is a worn red and grey plaid one that belonged to her brother. Almost everything she has is second hand. For her journey to Neo Islands she will be wearing a loose black, off the shoulder top with the Metallica logo on it. Underneath there is a grey tanktop, and you can see one strap as the shirt falls off the left shoulder. She will also be wearing dark wash jean shorts that fall mid-thigh. She also wears dark brown leather combat boots that go to her mid calf. She often leaves them slightly unlaced, letting the tongue fall open and showing off the grey socks underneath.
Winter: When cold weather hits Jo trades in the jean shorts for skinny, dark wash jeans with a dark brown belt who's buckle is the head of a tauros. She keeps the boots but will wear either her trusty red flannel with a band t-shirt or a black and blue striped shirt. She also owns an olive green army jacket that she got at a surplus store. It has an impossibly thick lining of flannel and keeps her very warm.
Swimwear: She owns one bathing suit, it belonged to her older sister. It is a dark green bikini.
Athletic: She doesn't really have time for recreational sports, but if push comes to shove she'll wear her grey tank top and a pair of running shorts. She only has hiking boots as another pair of shoes.
Contest: She has never entered a contest, and never intends to. If she has to though her mother forced her to pack a simple dark blue dress which has short sleeves, is tapered at the waists, and then falls to mid calf. She would probably wear her hiking boots with this, as she has no clue what else to wear.

History:
Jo's family came to Solaceon Town in the early days of its settlement. To begin with they were just simple farmers, and her great-grandfather would have to feed his family of six with the income provided by a large plot of land, with only a small portion of tilled earth. Her grandfather took a devout interest in the farm, mostly inspired by how he saw his mother struggle to put food on the table and feed four hungry children. He managed to convince his father that a pokemon ranch would be much more beneficial than a farm.

When Jo's grandfather was seventeen the first two Rapidash arrived at the farm. Although no one in the family had ever travelled with pokemon before they learned, through many mistakes, how to care for the creatures. Soon enough, after many burns and stepped on feet, they had a breeding pair of Rapidash and a single Ponyta running around the now fenced in land.

From there the ranch only grew to its current size. It is not a large ranch, it is not an extravagant ranch. They raise only one breed of pokemon, although Jo's father has plans to introduce a Houndoom breeding program. And although the ranch is small, their pokemon are famed in the area for being extremely well trained and personable. They are often used to either work the farms that are scattered around Solaceon Town, help herd the domesticated Tauros and Milktank, or merely as pleasure pokemon, kept around for companionship and as easy transport into town. Lately there has been more widespread business, and Jo's father has been forced to buy a trailer to transport the pokemon to more distant cities. His dream is to have the Sousa Ranch become well known for their show Rapidash, and he has already started an intensive breeding program for the fastest and best jumpers.

Jo is the youngest of three siblings. Her eldest sister, who was six when Jo was born, was very pretty and very popular. She worked at the ranch, just as all the children did, but at the age of twenty got married to a local boy. The two moved to Pastoria City where he works at the Great Marsh and she runs a small bookstore and raises their young child.

The other sister, four when Jo was born, still works at the ranch. She is a solid girl, with a special touch in training the more spooky of the Rapidash. Her father values her for this quality, and she has a large role in the running of the ranch.

Jo's only brother is named Dean. He was three when Jo was born and the two could often be found running around the ranch, covered head to toe in dirt and grass stains. When he turned eleven he applied for the school's pokemon program. This was a program that allowed five school children to be given a pokemon and then travel around the region, challenging gym leaders, competing in contests, all while continuing to receive an education. He was accepted and chose the fire starter Chimchar. He made it all the way to Hearthrome City, but Fantina proved to be too much for him. He returned home at the age of 14 a hero in the eyes of the citizens, but a failure to himself.

When he returned he had a gift for Jo. During his travels his Infernape and Lucario had had an egg. He gave it to Jo as a gift. Then he returned to working on the ranch. But as soon as he turned eighteen he left the ranch, and now travels the Sinnoh region, training his pokemon in the hopes of one day being a champion.

Jo received the egg and took great care with it. Eventually it hatched, and it was a Chimchar. She was around twelve when this happened, and she bonded quickly with the small fire pokemon. One would often see her walking around the ranch, doing her chores, with the monkey pokemon clinging to her neck. Maybe it was the presence of the young pokemon, maybe it was they way her brother talked about the rest of the region, but soon enough Jo and her father were fighting, Jo pleading to be allowed to apply to the pokemon program and her father refusing to allow her.

When she turned fifteen though, after countless fights she finally left home. She was determined to leave, and her father finally realized this. He hadn't wanted her to leave, preferring to have her at home and safe and because he had seen what a pokemon journey had done to Dean. It had upset the young boy, making him obsess over victory. Her father realized that he could only fight her for so long and he let her leave one day, with his blessings and the silver ring that Jo always wears.

She travelled around Sinnoh for a while, training her Chimchar, battling trainers and gym leaders, and capturing pokemon. Eventually though she finds herself in Hearthrome City, outside the gym where her brother had to stop. She couldn't do it though. She couldn't walk through the doors of that gym. So she turned around and boarded the first boat at Sunnyshore City. She went to the first stop, got off, found a lab, and vowed that she was damn well going to do something with her life. What is was going to be she still had no clue, but it was going to be great.

Bag:
Jo is in possession of a large khaki messenger bag with one main pocket divided into three parts and two smaller pockets on the front. The largest of the main pockets holds her clothing, primarily band t-shirts, flannels, and jeans. She keeps her hiking boots tied around the strap, and they usually end up hitting her as she runs.

Basic trainer gear: Pokedex, Xtransceiver, trainer card
Human stuff: Basic toiletries plus some apples for snacks
Clothing
Medicine: Mostly berries but she has some potions and other status healers
Other: several notebooks filled with writing (Jo is a big writer and likes to record almost everything that happens to her), spare pens and pencils rolling around everywhere, three good books (read in times of boredom)
Tms or Hms in case her pokemon need it
An emergency cold weather scarf which is a dark blue and made of wool
She keeps her poke balls on the strap of the bag, so they are easy to reach

Pokemon:

Name: Rigby
Species: Infernape
Gender: Male
Nature: Brave
Ability: Blaze
Item: Charcoal
Move list: Flame wheel, Mach punch, Sunny Day, Close combat
Info: Rigby was given to Jo as an egg from her brother. He was her first pokemon starting out, and the two have a close bond. He really pushed her to start battling, as he was always raring for a fight and ready to go. He is brave and loyal to Jo, and when all else seems ruined she knows she can rely on him and his companionship.

Name: Murray
Species: Raichu
Gender: Female
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Static
Item: None
Move list: Thunderbolt, Double team, Volt switch, Volt tackle
Info: Jo caught Murray in Pokemon Mansion, after seeing the Pikachu being chased by several clefairy that belonged to the mansion's owner. Murray was never a difficult pokemon to train. The pikachu, although not extremely passionate about battling, liked that it made her trainer happy and was happy to oblige. Murray has a habit of standing on Jo's shoulder as she walked, and when she evolved with a thunderstone there were several unfortunate moments when she once again tried to perch on Jo's shoulder but couldn't, ending in minor injury to both of them.

Name: Tidus
Species: Noctowl
Gender: Male
Nature: Relaxed
Ability: Insomnia
Item: Sharp beak
Move list: Sky attack, Confusion, Fly, Shadow ball
Info: Jo caught Tidus in the Great Marsh on a trip through with her brother-in-law. He was just a little Hoothoot at the time, and Jo was in need of a flying pokemon. So she snatched him up and soon realized what a great pokemon he was. He's a very laid back battler and unlike Murray or Rigby he needs Jo to give him instruction, otherwise he doesn't understand the rush and can be side swept by faster pokemon.

Name: Asher
Species: Espeon
Gender: Male
Nature: Quiet
Ability: Synchronize
Item: King's rock
Move list: Psybeam, Reflect, Psychic, Swift
Info: Asher was the most recent addition to Jo's team in Sinnoh. She obtained him in the Trophy Garden, finding him just running around. He is a quiet pokemon, choosing not to get involved with the rest of the team's shenanigans. He is very fond of the body heat given off by Jo though and can often be found curled around her neck purring softly. His battling technique is a stealthy one. He will lull the opponent into a false security, taking the time to set up a reflect and secure the team defensively, and then he attacks.

Name: Rasha
Species: Gerubi
Gender: Female
Nature: Impish
Ability: Torrent
Item: None
Move list: Tackles, Leer, Watersport
Info: Rasha is the newest member of the team. Jo was given her by Professor Pine upon her arrival in Neo Islands. She is excited to see what this little pokemon can do.