Sorin Black, Knight of Lilycove Finished

Name: Sorin Black
Nickname: Knight of the Phoenix
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Rank: Trainer/Fire Elementalist (undiscovered)
Birthplace: Hoenn, Lilycove
Battle Style: Balanced, Tactical.
Looks: Sorin is tall and lithe, with light muscles that betray surprising strength. He has charcoal hair and blue eyes that shine like fire. His skin is lightly tanned with just a touch of sun.  On his back, he bears a large brand in the shape of a talon.
Personality: Sorin is at his core, a protector. He never leaves a man behind, and will put himself in danger to see that others are safe. Luckily for him, he has a good humble streak. He is also very loyal and trustworthy. He sticks with people until the very end, and always keeps his promises. One problem he has is that he can be very blunt. If he doesn't like you, he will tell you, and not in a nice way. That said, he can be eloquent when the situation calls, but he always gets his point across.
History: See bottom of app.
Badges:
Items: None
Money: None

Pokémon

Pokémon: Torchic
Nickname: Kipperin
Gender: Male
Level: 12
Moves: Scratch, Ember, Growl, Focus Energy, Swords Dance
Ability: Speed Boost
Personality: Protective
Exp: 0

History: Centuries ago, in what was ancient Hoenn, a small kingdom reigned. The ruler was kind and just and the people loved him. He had various knights in his service who were all hand picked by the king to serve the people and protect them.

It was in the small town of Lilycove, just south of the castle, that Sorin, a very young boy of about seven, was playing outside with Kipperin, his Torchic companion.  but today, they wandered a little too far from home, and became hopelessly lost in the snowy wilds.  Sorin and Kipperin tried to be brave as they moved throughout the cold woods, desperately trying to find their way home.  but it wasn't enough.  exhausted, they dropped to the ground, spent and freezing.

Sorin, in a feeble attempt to keep his partner safe, wrapped what little clothes he had around Kipperin to keep him warm.  and it was with this act that he got the attention of a certain bird flying above.  it swooped down from above landing silently in front of the pair.  it's rainbow colored feathers shimmering in the moonlight.  To the exhausted pair, it was a death sentence.  Sorin stood, arms spread wide, in front of the great phoenix shouting, "You will NOT hurt Kipperin!  I won't let you!"  But the bird, instead of attacking, began to laugh.  it started as a chuckle, and grew to a great roar and warmth spread throughout the area, melting the snow.  "Child."  it said, "it is not to devour you that i have come here.  instead, it is the warmth of your heart that has prompted me to give you a gift.  Your desire to protect your friend above even your own life is such a great act that it cannot go unrewarded.  First, i shall take you home.  And second, well, you aren't old enough to know the second just yet.  We shall let it lie dormant for now."

And with that, the great bird snatched up Sorin and Kipperin in its talons and flew away, towards the center of Lilycove.  but the great heat from the bird was too much for Sorin's skin to handle unscathed, and he was burned by the claw of the Phoenix.  true to its word, the bird deposited them back at their homestead, to the great shock, and relief of Sorin's parents.  "Truly we have been blessed by the return of our son." spoke Sorin's father.  the bird bent forwards and with a nod of his head towards Sorin and Kipperin, it flew off with neither an introduction or a farewell.

For years after those events, Sorin had wanted to be a Knight, and today he finally graduated from the training academy. Only one person would be chosen from the group to be on the King's Guard however, and Sorin longed for that to be him. After what seemed like forever, the group of applicants were called up with their partners to be selected for duty. The process took hours but finally they were lined up to be looked at by the king himself. He walked down the line, telling some to step back while leaving others alone. He would ask a question of some of them, but he wouldn't respond to their answer. Kipperin fidgeted beside him, the young combusken anxious for this to be over as much as Sorin. He put his hand on Kipperin's shoulder to comfort him saying, "peace friend. have faith." Finally the king stopped before him. The king looked deep into Sorin's eyes, looking for any doubt, any inkling of weakenss. Sorin did his best to stay strong. Then the king asked him a simple question, "are you worthy?"

Sorin so much wanted to scream out "yes! please make me a knight!" but he knew that such an outburst would be frowned upon. But instead, to the surprise of everyone there, including himself, he said, "no." This seemed to shock even the king, and he quickly moved on, but not without one last look into Sorin's eyes. They were dismissed after that, and told to wait in the barracks until the Ceremony commenced. Kipperin looked at Sorin dumfounded, even going so far as to bonk him on the head. But then he too looked into Sorin's eyes. what he saw changed his mind, and he became visibly more confident. Sorin was confused, but this behavior was not unlike Kipperin. The Combusken had a playful streak that even the military couldn't knock out of him.

At the 4th bell, the ceremony started. People came from all around to see who would be selected as the next knight. Sorin and Kipperin stood with the others before the king once again. Sorin was nervous, but this time it was Kipperin who comforted him with a pat on his back. He looked down to see Kipperin smiling up at him, full of confidence as though the decision had already been made. The king stepped forwards then and addressed the applicants.

"Brave errant's. You have been brought here today to have one selected from among you to join the rest of my knights in service to the kingdom. This is the greatest honor you can receive, and it is not to be taken lightly. You will be tasked with the protection of not just myself, but of the whole of the kingdom, and to those who cannot protect themselves. You will be judges in your own right, meting out justice as you see fit to deliver. There are those among you who are not worthy of this task. I would ask them to leave now." The king waited for a moment, and as if drawn by invisible strings, three applicants left the line. They were those who were seen as unfit to even try again. But as they left, one turned around and addressed the king. "Know this, great 'king', you who think yourself fit to judge. I have within me the potential to do more than any of your so called knights could ever do, even together. You have made a foolish mistake letting me go. And i will be back to take that crown from you!"

The crowd gasped. This was high treason to speak to the king as such. But before anyone could confront him, he leapt upon his partner, a noivern, and took to the sky. Some of the knights stationed there began to take action but the king stopped them with a wave of his hand. "Let the boy go. He is only angry. If he returns, he shall not be harmed, instead welcome him to my court so that we may speak. The kings kind words brought cheers from the crowd, but again he hushed them with a wave. "Now. to address the rest of you. From you i have chosen one individual who i believe has shown more character than the rest. One who has shown that to be great, one must sometimes be... humble." With that, the king looked to Sorin. Sorin stood there, a little confused. Why was the king looking at him? suddenly his head hurt. He looked to Kipperin with a glare. The little guy had bonked him on the head. But it was that bonk that brought him to realization. The king had chosen him.

Years passed since that day. His training as a knight had been tough but satisfying work. But the peace could only last for so long. The king's spies reported that the boy who left the ceremony, Elalan, had plans to awaken the great beast of the land Groudon. The king, knowing what kind of destruction this creature could wreak, ordered a council of knights to prepare for what may come.

"We must prepare the borders for an assault. The outling villages cannot withstand an attack with their current forces." The first voice came from one of the oldest members of the knights, Gilfreid. "If the outer villages fall, we lose our best defensive line to the capital."

"That may be true,"piped in another knight by the name of Altair, "but i believe that our largest force should be gathered at the second line instead. That would allow us to weaken the beast before launching a counter offensive."

It was then that Sorin had an idea. Everyone was focusing on what to do after he succeeded in taming Groudon. "What we should be focusing on is not what to do when he awakens, but how to stop him from awakening. I say we launch a small offensive now, at Mt. Pyre where the Red Orb lies, and stop him before he even gets close to Groudon." The other knights looked at Sorin for a moment, giving him discerning glances.

The king and Gilfreid spoke at the same time. "I agree." they said. Gilfreid spoke then, "since you were the one to come up with the idea, i think we should allow you to formulate the plan of attack as well. It will be good experience for you. Don't you agree my king?" The king spoke without pause, "I do. You will make a fine Tactician Sorin."

Sorin worked through the knight formulating the plan to stop Elalan. It was in three stages. First stage would cover the ground leading up and through Mt. Pyre. The people positioned there would be the first line of defense in stopping Elalan's ascent. The second stage would be air defense. His known partner was a noibat, a supersonic dragon type pokemon. Knowing this, an air assault was very possible. The third and final stage was the elite guard. It was composed of the three best Knights that the kingdom had to offer: Gilfreid, Yass, and Peter. They would be stationed at the entrance to the shrine, and would be the last line of defense to the red orb. Sorin wouldn't be participating in the battle, as he would be controlling the operation from the forest near the castle.

The day of the operation came much faster than anticipated, leaving them little time to get into position. The first hour passed without any signs of Elalan or his men. The guards were getting restless, but the Knights kept them in position. Suddenly from the sky, a ray of energy sprang forth and strafed the side of the mountain. At the same time, multiple lines of soldiers attacked from the base of the mountain. It was a two pronged attack, meant to isolate the squads from supporting each other. The Knights reacted well, counterattacking with hyper beams of their own. Sorin directed the fighting by using telepathic pokemon to relay commands to the various officers. Something struck him about the fight however. Elalan was nowhere to be seen. They figured he would be leading the charge in an attempt to get in and out as soon as possible. Sorin's mind raced as he tried to think of what he could be planning. he didn't have to think long.

Kipperin, now a Blaziken, shifted uncomfortably as the atmosphere got tense. All of a sudden, he tensed and sent a wave of fire streaming towards a nearby bush. Before the fire even touched it a shadow darted straight up and another came around from the side towards Sorin. Kipperin jumped up, following the trajectory of the first shadow, and delivered a vicious Blaze Kick straight down onto it's head, sending it to the ground. Sorin, noticing Kipperin move, drew his sword just in time to block the blade from taking off his own head. It was Elalan. His Noivern got up shakily, fresh blood streaming from the wound on its head. The two pairs looked at each other for a moment, and then the fight started.

Sorin pushed Elalan's blade back, and riposted. His blade was thinner and lighter than Elalan's, and he planned to use that to his advantage. But he hadn't planned on the sheer strength Elalan possessed, and was not only easily knocked away but sent stumbling to the side. Sorin recovered quickly, just in time to parry another downward swing. This time however, he didn't stop the blade and used the momentum of Elalan's larger sword to force him to strike the ground. He then twisted around, and delivered a nice sized gash to Elalan's sword arm, causing him to drop the blade.

Elalan then called for his Noivern who attacked with Dragon Rage, but Kipperin intercepted its attack, taking the full force of the dragon's fiery breath. He dropped to one knee. The Noivern saw an advantage and streaked towards Kipperin, attempting to finish him off with a Dragon Claw attack. But Sorin saw him coming. "Kipperin, use Sky Uppercut!" Kipperin waited until the last possible second before launching his attack, catching the Noivern right under its chin. The strike sent it flying into an overhead branch, destroying it, and causing it to fall back to the ground. The Noivern didn't get up. Sorin pointed his blade at Elalan's neck. He looked directly into his eyes and dared him to run. Elalan got the message and sank to one knee.

From a nearby tree, a small green and white figure peeked around to look at the two individuals. It had been watching the fight, and only now decided to show itself. The creature was a Celebi. It flew down to get a closer look at the fighters. Elalan sat up immediately and said, "A Celebi, but they only appear in times of peace..." Sorin looked at the Celebi and smiled, knowing what its appearance meant. "It means we won." Kipperin came over to Sorin and bowed before the Celebi. Sorin followed suit. The Celebi looked at them and smiled, then touched them on their brows. Everything went white.

Approved~