Below are all the people accepted into the story! All vacant spots are still open for the taking, if you so wish to submit a character! Aside from the assigned spots, I may introduce other recurring characters, so if your OC's name isn't here, there might be a chance that they still make it in.
If you have submitted an OC and it isn't on the list yet even though there has been an update, don't worry! They have a chance at getting in nonetheless, it just means I'm still debating whether or not to include them and where to do so. Happy writing!
EDIT: March 7th - I have accepted a new member to the main party, a new gym leader and two rivals as of right now. If you're curious on what I'm needing the most, that'd be anything but gym challengers/trainers. That means coordinators, researchers, singers/idols, rangers, gym leaders and the like will have more of a chance at winning a spot on the final cast!
EDIT: March 13th - The cast is almost full! We have one spot left in the main party, three gym leaders and however many rivals and antagonists I decide to weave into the adventure left! I'm not accepting gym challengers into the rivals anymore, so if you submit any more of those, they'll be pushed aside and, if they were to enter the story, it would be as a minor character. As far as rivals ago, I'd like to see some more coordinators and battlers in the mix - but other classes like researchers, photographers, idols, dancers and rangers are welcome too! I'm pushing the new rival limit to 8 people, and that'll be the final number. That means, I'm in need of three more gym leaders and four other characters!
EDIT: March 23rd - We're reaching the final stretch here! I'm looking for anything but a gym challenger to fill in the final rival/villain spot, and the taken Gym Leader types are Fire, Psychic, Dragon, Ice, Poison, Water and Fairy (the only Gym up for grabs is Goldenrod's!). When I have my full roster, the story will go into full swing, so get submitting as soon as you can. Happy writing!
EDIT: March 27th - The SYOC is now officially closed! Thank you to everyone who submitted for taking interest in the story. The full cast (story-relevant characters only) is below!
EDIT: June 22nd - As I mentioned last update, the SYOC has been reopened and you can submit new E4 members for the story, as well as a new Johto League champion! Right now, three of the four E4 spots have been filled, which leaves the Champion and the final E4 member to go. Submit away!
Main Party (4/4)
1. Shawn Hargrove, a coordinator from Veilstone City, Sinnoh
2. Mallory Pixiehale, a trainer from Floaroma Town, Sinnoh
3. Sarah Haze, a wandering battler from Celadon City, Kanto
4. Mikala Ka'uhane, a photographer from Tapu Village, Alola
Gym Leaders (8/8)
1. Dirk Hargrove, the Ecruteak City's Gym Leader
2. Richter Dustin, the Cherrygrove City's Gym Leader
3. The Cherry Blossom's Maiden, the Azalea Town's Gym Leader
4. Adagio Ddraig, the Blackthorn City's Gym Leader
5. Jokull Stein, the Olivine City's Gym Leader
6. Zack Waver, the Mahogany Town's Gym Leader
7. Alistair Esprit, the Cianwood City's Gym Leader
8. Hokulani Ka'aukai, the Goldenrod City's Gym Leader
Elite Four + Champion (3/5)
1. Hajime Nanbu (Elite Four)
2. Simon Watts (Elite Four)
3. Emily Orion (Elite Four)
4.
5.
Rivals / Villains (8/8)
1. Kaleaf Humes
2. Alto Riversong
3. Kidra Silvery
4. Dean Yukimura
5. Blake Casario
6. William Lynton
7. Kiku Nanbu
8. Angelus Hendrix
PROLOGUE: Setting Sail
~ Pastoria City, Harbor ~
"Seeing you leave makes your momma proud, you know?" the fair-skinned lady's hair flew in the sea breeze as she looked down at her infant, now on his way to leave the region and pursue a dream of his. "But it brings back memories... I wish you'd stay a child forever, sometimes." she confessed, smiling sadly and combing a blond lock behind her ear.
The younger boy scratched his head with a grin, feeling the scruff growing from his scalp. "Sheesh, mom, could you be any sappier?" he joked. "I'm on my way to adventure! Plus, it's not like I'll be alone, and I'll keep in touch! Think of it as... an extended field trip. With Mallory!"
The older woman shook her head and eyed her son reassuringly. "Oh, Shawn, you never do change. Even now, you're so enthusiastic of parting ways with Sinnoh... I wish you'd start your journey here."
"You know why I'm leaving, mom!" Shawn said excitedly, his grin growing more intense.
"Yes, yes." the mother asserted with two slight nods. "I know you miss your father. I called him a few minutes ago, he's going to pick you and Mallory up at the Olivine City Pokémon Center, and take you back to Ecruteak."
Shawn turned to the sea and took a good sniff, letting the oceanic scents fill his very soul. "Ahhh, I could get used to this smell! Veilstone is like, pollution central." he sassed. "But I'll miss it... Ecruteak is such an ancient city, it probably smells musty and old, all the time!"
"Is that how you talk about your new home, Shawn Hargrove!?" his mom jokingly warned him with an accusatory finger. "I'm sure you and Amber will love it. Mallory and her pokémon should enjoy staying there as well."
A girlish scoff turned both their heads to the harbor's main entrance, where a petite girl with purple shoulder-length hair and dark-red eyes stood, fanning herself with a traditional Ecruteakian paper fan. "Who, me?" Mallory retorted playfully. "Like hell I'm gonna stay there! I'll bolt out the door first chance I get! The Pokémon League challenge waits for no man - or woman, for that matter!"
"I was wondering where you'd been..."
Mallory giggled and approached the heartwarming family reunion. "Sorry, Ms. Amelia! I had to check when our boat departed!" she cheered. "Speaking of which, we're ten minutes from boarding... shouldn't we hurry inside?"
Shawn's mother let out a heavy sigh and looked at the two youngsters, both in their teens. "Shawn, Mallory, I hope you have loads of fun, you hear me? But always be safe, and keep in touch with your friends and family regularly, whenever possible. Don't forget to wash your teeth, have three meals per day, look both sides before crossing, never bother wild pokémon, always have medicine handy, nev-"
"Mom!" Shawn retorted with a loud laughter at his mother's overprotection. "We're fifteen, now! Don't you have the least bit of faith in us?"
"I trust Mallory alright." she responded with a tone of mockery towards herself and her son. "I'm sorry for being so overbearing... I just want you to know I love you a lot, Shawn. Don't let me down, you hear?"
The young boy acted shocked at his mother's words. "Me? Let you down? As if! I'll be the best coordinator in Johto before you know it! And when that happens, I'm running straight back here to climb the contest ladder in Sinnoh as well!"
"Promise?"
"Promise!" he cheerfully replied, with an emphasizing thumbs-up, a wink and a smirk. "We'll have to go, mom!" he hugged the older lady once more and entered the Pastoria Harbor in a rush, leaving Mallory and his mother behind.
Amelia shook her head and looked at the younger girl with sympathy. "Take good care of him, okay?"
"I will, Ms. Amelia, I will!" Mallory reassured. "I'll be going too, now... thanks for everything!" she thanked the woman who had sheltered her for the past few days of preparation pre-trip and hurried off behind her friend, leaving a distraught, bittersweet mother behind, watching her son grow up with moistening eyes.
"Ah, kids grow up so fast nowadays..." she sighed before wandering off to the harbor platform, waiting to see the cruise depart.
~ Olivine City, Harbor ~
A familiar sea breeze greeted the two youngsters as they left the boat, with two extra friends outside to say 'hi' to their new homeland. "Check this place out, Amber!" Shawn gasped as he was greeted by a beach of white sand that not only rivaled, but greatly surpassed Pastoria's. The fox pokémon, resting on top of her trainer's head, shook her fur and stretched her tails before widening her vision to see all that surrounded them. Unfamiliar territory.
"Pix!" she cheered with a high-pitched squeal and turned her neck back and forth, from the sand on the right, to the more industrialized, civilised half of the city on the left. Her small mouth was wide open with a gaping smile as her blue eyes shone in the sunset of the summer evening.
Mallory was quick to follow as she stared at the new city in awe, impressed by the new scenery. "Ooooh, hell yeah!" she chanted, pumping her right fist in the air. "This place is getting me so pumped! We're gonna rock this place, big time!"
"Shroom, shroom!" the small mushroom-like pokémon waddled forward, hopping around with his stubby little legs and his triangular mouth formed a big grin. Infatuated by the beach to the right, he stormed over there.
"Shroomish!" Mallory called before running after her partner, grabbing the slow grass-type with both hands before snuggling it close to her. "Can't have you running off now! I'm gonna need you! With you by my side, we'll be crowned the best trainer and pokémon in Johto in no time!"
The small pokémon was down as his sprint had been interrupted but quickly perked up with his trainer's enthusiasm. "Shroom!" he smiled.
Shawn and Amber, the Vulpix, paced over to the grass-type and his trainer at a slow speed, and chuckled. "You never change, do you?" The boy mocked, rubbing his partner's red fur. "Let's get to the Center, before sundown... my dad's probably waiting for us there! Last one getting there's a rotten Exeggcute!" the boy challenged before running off at a blinding pace, his childhood friend and partner pokémon following suit.
"Hey, wait up!" Mallory called as she chased down the brunette boy. "Exeggcute are seeeeeeeds!"
~ Olivine City, Pokémon Center ~
As Shawn entered the room with his red-tinted pokémon companion, Mallory huffed and puffed her last steps to the end, being metaphorically stepped on by her friend's superior speed. "You had... an unfair... advantage..." she complained in between gasps for air, making the boy chuckle.
"Yeah, right, Mal!" he mocked his friend, referring to her by the nickname she'd had for a long time. Unlike the petite girl, Shawn's posture was unchanged and he wasn't sweating or panting in the least, almost as if he hadn't ran. "I had two or three seconds, which is way less than you took to get here!"
"Nuh-uh!" the purple-haired girl retorted with puffed cheeks. "You began earlier than me, which is against the rules!"
"We didn't set any rules, though!"
"Who says?"
"I do!"
While the two friends kept juggling the argument back and forth, Amber and Shroomish played around each other as they looked at other pokémon and trainers who had gathered in the center. Ranging from fully-evolved to baby pokémon, the full spectrum was out and about, resting or enjoying themselves along with the humans they called trainers. All different species, colors and types of pokémon peppered the medical center.
"Vul, pix!" Amber purred as she saw another Vulpix in the distance, who seemed not to notice. Unfazed, the fox pokémon kept looking around for more interesting things, lost in her own world and Shroomish just gazed at her awkwardly with a poker face. A heavy pair of footsteps approached the two pokémon and suddenly, the fox was picked off the ground, making her squeal in fear.
"Amber!" Shawn refrained from badgering Mallory any longer and turned around to answer his pokémon's pleas, but was pleasantly surprised to see who was holding her. "D-Dad!" he called, hugging the tall brunette man tightly. His honey yellow eyes were just like Shawn's - which is to be expected as they are father and son.
The muscular, broad-shouldered adult looked down at his son and smiled, rubbing his rough hand over the child's head. "Shawny!" he called, making the boy wince as he heard the name aloud. "You've grown so much, my boy! Videochatting really doesn't make you justice!"
Mallory tried to hold back a laugh by sinking her teeth into the skin of her bottom lip, hiding how funny she found the boy's dad's nickname. "H-Hello, Mr. Dirk! Long time no see."
"It can't be... Mallory?" the man gasped in shock. "You've grown even more! You're becoming a fine young woman, aren't you!"
"Hehe, if you say so, Mr. Dirk!" Mallory scratched the bridge of her nose, and licked her lips before puffing her chest out with pride. "I'm super pumped to see Ecruteak and go on an adventure!"
The older man sighed and laughed. "Ah, youth these days. You just arrived and you're already raring to leave. I wish I had your motivation at times." he complained. "Ack, I sound like an old man now!" he joked, earning a laugh out of Shawn and Mallory, as well as their pokémon. "That being said, since you're so keen on getting out of here... what do you say we hit the road?"
Dirk's stubble wasn't nearly as thick enough to hide the fatherly grin he boasted as he watched Shawn and Mallory excitedly leave the Center, quickly searching for the man's vehicle. Shawn recognized it wherever - a red convertible with a Typhlosion emblazoned on the back, and a Houndoom on each side door stood out from the crowd. "Daaaaaad?" Shawn called. "Where's the car?"
"Oh we're not driving that thing! I walked here! Ecruteak is just around the corner, you know?"
Mallory's head turned quickly and her expression changed to an impatient pout before she stomped her foot and tapped it repeatedly. "Huuuuuh?" she crossed her arms. "I can't believe it! We have to walk!? That's gonna take forever!"
"Now, now, Mallory, patience is key to pokémon battles! Rushing things only makes them easy to break apart. That goes for strategies as well, of course."
"Huh." she stopped acting childishly and pondered maturely about the man's words. Coming from a Johto League official Gym Leader, every word was important. "Alright! Let's patiently hurry over to Ecruteak then!"
Dirk stopped for a minute before tilting his head in confusion at the young girl's paradox, but eventually shrugged and laughed it off as he approached the teenagers. "Let's go, this way, kids. We've got a lot to catch up on."
~ PROLOGUE: END ~
New Characters:
Shawn Hargrove and Amber, submitted by me!
Mallory Pixiehale and Shroomish, submitted by me!
Amelia and Dirk Hargrove, submitted by me!
A/N: That marks the beggining of this new story, following Shawn and Mallory through their Johto journey! As you probably guessed - hell, it's probably why you're here in the first place - this is indeed a SYOC! I'll be looking for both new trainers around Shawn's age to take part in his journey, be it as a friend and party member, as a rival or as a recurring character! I'll also be recruiting new Gym Leaders into Johto's eight gyms, save for Ecruteak's gym which is now Dirk's. The form for this SYOC is in my profile, so you can copy and paste it onto a PM and send me your submissions!
That being said, I don't have much else to say. I hope you enjoy Shawn and Mal as characters! See you next chapter!