Roza Sokolova

R3 EDIT: new team member (joltik), Skopa evolved, and both Roza and Skopa have injuries from the previous battle.
{a flamethrower from a houndoom essentially went right past Roza’s head and grazed/burned her right shoulder and neck a bit. figured she'd get herself a new uniform, so you can't see much of it, but the scarring goes from the curve of the top of her shoulder and creeps all the way up her neck so that a tiny bit is visible at the edge of her jaw.
and since hair can singe away really fast if it gets too close to flames, her haircut is pretty jacked. Ms Zyva [link] helped even it out a little by cutting the parts that hadn't gotten burned off, but Roza was adamant that she didn't want a "boy" haircut, so they left it a little longer on the left side.
(which you can now see happening, as drawn by [link] eeeeeeeee!)
so, on the right side of her head it's very short (can't be pulled back anymore) and gets to more of bob-length on the left side (that part is pulled back out of her face like usual, it's just shorter). her hair is curly so it starts going into wiggly bits towards her ears XD

Skopa also got a bit singed. Did some research on what happens when a bird gets burned; feathers actually give a tiny layer of protection to the bird’s actual skin, but the skin itself is thinner than a humans. The bird needs a lot of attention to keep it’s body temperature and nutrition levels stable after an injury like this. However as long as the skin isn’t damaged too deeply, missing feathers will start to grow back immediately, while broken feathers will regrow after the bird goes through it’s next molt cycle.

I figure they both had a month to heal so Roza is scarred and a bit stiff but otherwise fine, where skopa’s actual burn is also mostly healed but due to his plumage being all torn up still, he has a hard time flying. He can get airborne, but evasive maneuvers are severely handicapped. He also gets tired faster since it takes more effort to fly right now.}

R2 EDIT: new trouble making party member added, Skopa stays a tiny fluffy bird until he sees some real combat

Warning: I tend to ramble and make text walls, but I really outdid myself here ^^”


Name: Roza Sokolova
Age: 16
Height/Weight: 4’9”/110lbs
Hometown/Region: Snowpoint/ Sinnoh
Military Faction: Army

Extra items:
Falconry glove and such (a nice reference I found: [link] *NOTE especially when actually in the field/not at boot camp, she would NOT have all the stuff in that ref picture, just the glove and field leash/jesses)
Knapsack of handiness, with a blanket, length of rope, foldy spade, and small notepad and pencil inside
A small “Swiss army”/pocket knife is kept in her right boot.
Her “leggings” are actually part of the set of thermals she wears under her uniform, that also doubles as PJs
Main Weapon:
A trusty slingshot she’s had since childhood. She’s now been outfitted with a holster for it and a pouch of “ammo” (both of which can be seen round her waist). The “ammo” is simply round pellets similar to BBs. The uniform shape and weight allows for nearly pinpoint accuracy. If she ever runs out, any pebbles or small objects would do, and she’d still be a pretty decent shot, but having to gauge the effect of something not as aerodynamic or a different weight would be a slight handicap.

Personality:
Not one to trust others easily, Roza tends to enter most social interactions with her emotional defenses waaay up. At best she stays pretty guarded, and at worst (usually with “new” folks) will bristle grumpily at someone trying to engage her in conversation. This is partially due to the still pretty fresh emotional trauma of losing her brother, and also due to her assumption that most people are going to sneer and see her as “weak” simply based on her appearance, age, or gender (or perhaps even more insulting, take “pity” on her and attempt to comfort her or help her with things she’s fully capable of on her own). Still, underneath the tough “I don’t need anybody” act, she’s is just a rather hurt and angry kid (not that she’d be willing to angst out loud to anyone).
She can warm up to people, it’s just going to take a while.

Backstory:
Like many dealing with weak economic climate before the war, Roza’s family usually had to struggle a bit to make ends meet, but they always managed to keep a roof over their heads. Her father worked for a shipping company stationed out of the small port on the edge of Snowpoint. When Roza was still a toddler he passed away when the ship he was working on sank at sea. Concrete facts about the incident were hard to come by, but the propagandist newspapers latched on to the event as evidence of Johto saboteurs attempting to cripple the shipping lines between Sinnoh and Kanto. (and damage the brotherhood between the two countries along w/ their economies)
Needing to pick up the slack of the loss of the income her husband had provided, Roza’s mother started taking as many odd jobs and long hours she could handle in order to keep the family unit afloat financially. This meant she was often away from home, and most of the housework fell to Roza and her Brother Nicolai who was 5 years her senior. They grew up very close, even once they became old enough to start finding work themselves and were no longer able to spend as much time together. With her brother’s influence, Roza soon developed into a bit of a tomboy, who’d much rather spend whatever free time she had exploring the wilderness near her home slingshot in hand, than staying clean and pretty at home playing with a doll. As Bold and independent as she strived to be, big brother Nicolai was the one person she’d allow herself to lean on emotionally. (and often the person who would show up to get her out of whatever troublemaking she’d gotten into)
When the war finally broke out Nicolai, buying into the “every able bodied person’s duty to protect their homes, loved ones and way of life” bit the propaganda mill was selling, and seeing the opportunity to make a much better paycheck to send home than he could have found in his hometown, became one of the first batch of recruits to enlist. He also become one of the war’s first casualties, and Roza lost a brother, best friend, and surrogate father figure all in one blow.
When the news reached her, she seemed to go into shock, spending the rest of the day laying in silence in her bed. Her mother was understandably worried and planned to seek help for her first thing in the morning, but when she woke up the next day, Roza was gone. Several days later a rather bedraggled and hungry looking Roza appeared in the closest recruiting office a few towns away, demanding to be allowed into the army. NOW.
She did write a letter to her poor worried mother about where she had gone off to once the recruiting officer gave her her way (mostly to get the stubborn crazy girl out of his office)

Reason for joining the War:
Short answer: a gut reaction to her brother getting killed in said war.
Long answer: With no specific name responsible for her brother’s death, she has placed the blame equally on every single member of the Johto military. The more mature part of her psyche wants to serve her brother’s memory by taking his place and continuing the same noble goals and ideals he stated when going off to war. The mad with grief part is more motivated by the sense that things can somehow be made right by going out to bust heads.

moar backstory [link]

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Pokemon:
Skopa | Pidgeotto | Adamant | Keen Eye |Male

Not being particularly pleased with being taken from his home and put under the service of a young girl, things got off to a bit of a rocky start for Roza and Skopa’s relationship. (many pecks and scratches) A uneasy truce was made when out of desperation Roza suggested promising that she would stop trying to force Skopa to wear a falconry hood, if he would promise to please stop attacking her. Roza has kept up her part of the deal, and Skopa seems willing to follow simple commands, or at least to stare at her without attacking (although he will still snap his beak in a rather menacing fashion when annoyed).
Lately, since Roza hasn’t been too interested in socializing with the other soldiers, she’s been spending most of her breaks/meals with Skopa (resting on a perch nearby). To fill time, she’ll talk to him or tell him stories (which he mostly ignores or pretends to ignore), share the parts of her meal he might be interested in eating (which he likes), and singing either folksongs from home or things she’s made up. Despite not always seeming to listen, he at least tolerates the noise. The attention may be having more of an effect than it would at first seem however, as Skopa will actually seem to respond more and more often when spoken to, and no longer tugs at the falconry jesses around his feet in an attempt for freedom.

Reason for using a bird in the “ground” forces:
Good for scouting, sending messages to members of a split party faster than Roza could, retrieving slingshot ammo (waste not want not) and so on.

Veles | Ghastly | Impish | Levitate |Male

A trickster and a bit of a goof-ball, Veles is pretty much happily along for the ride and is rather oblivious to the whole “War” situations he’s been placed in the middle of. He absolutely loves pranks and games and annoying Roza has quickly become one of his favorite pastimes simply because she’s so serious and easy to annoy. He also tends to lick things a lot, even though he doesn’t have the move lick so it doesn’t really do any damage, he just likes trying to creep people/mons out. He probably wouldn’t be too phased by seeing/causing deaths on a battlefield since he’s sorta dead already and can’t quite grasp what the big deal is there ^^’ As much as he generally likes to just mess around, Roza can sometimes get him to do what she asks if she’s able to make it seem like a game to him.
Being a ghost that can phase through things, plus the fact that the pokeballs being used at the moment are prototypes and a little primitive, he can sometimes just phase right out of his ball. He will do this whenever he can manage (sometimes the containment tech doesn’t fail) as he would rather spend his time sitting on Roza’s head under her hat (despite her protests) mocking her by making silly grumpy faces at passerby.

What/Do ghosts eat? My answer to this is based off of my brain oversimplifying a mentioned belief in regards to Dia de los Muertos video, where the food left out on altars getting stale is explained by the spirits “eating” the food’s flavor. So, Veles can eat whatever a person can eat, but instead of consuming the food physically he just holds it in his mouth for a while (and spits it out rudely later) or licks it a lot. If you try to eat that food afterwards it will be bland, stale or even rotten tasting despite looking fresh, because he already “ate” all the flavor out of it. So don’t let him lick anything you’d like to eat! XD

Skopa is a serious bird and doesn’t like Veles and his goofing off very much. He doesn’t trust him neither >-> (it’s not like he has a sort of “jealous of the new baby sibling” syndrome or anything. XD)

Veles thinks Skopa is a great fluffy bird buddy, and is almost as fun to mess with as Roza

Molniya | Joltik | Timid | Compoundeyes |Female

Tends to be shy, and nervous. She sort of sees Roza as a mommy figure to hide behind, or in her case to hide on? When not in a pokeball, She’ll usually be peeking from Roza’s collar, or hat, or ammo pouch, or…. XD
Her combat style is usually zap the scary thing, and run/hide while it’s stunned :’D

Skopa has gone into full protective big bro mode in regards to Molniya. Molniya genuinely appreciates the body-guard behavior, but hasn’t completely shaken the nervousness of being around a big bird (birds eat bugs!) quite yet

Veles actually makes an effort to not purposely scare her most of the time, it’s no fun when your subject of pranking can’t take it and bursts into tears at the tiniest “joke”. Molniya is terrified of Veles, even when he’s trying to just smile nice at her, she cries.

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Relationships with other soldiers (this section will get updates whenever I’m not lazy)

Gregori Petrovich [link]
Roza actually knows this man from her childhood as his tendency to fight pokemon in the nearby wilderness, and many many men in the bars of her hometown made him somewhat of a local legend. Frequenting the wilderness herself as a child (but not the bars XD) Roza has actually run into the man quite a few times. Eventually she developed a “game” of attempting to sneak up on him and get him with her slingshot. She never was successful, even when seemingly asleep or hung-over Gregori was always able to detect her presence and dodge at the last moment. Being bothered on a regular basis by a child could get annoying, but Gregori often found himself amused at the little girl who would repeatedly challenge someone that many of the full grown in her town wouldn’t dare cross. If she caught him in a particularly good mood, he would actually give her a few pointers to improve her sneaking for next time, or even just some general wilderness survival tips.
Since Roza had less and less time to spend in the wilderness due to having to work, and because it is not unusual for Gregori to not make an appearance around town for months at a time (he lives in a village a bit away from Snowpoint proper) She does not yet realize that he has also joined the war effort, but on the opposing side. Needless to say, were she to find out, she’d view it as a hurtful betrayal from a man she had deep respect for.

Lena Solovyova [link]
Another Snowpoint native that Roza knew during her childhood. The two girls probably wouldn’t have really interacted much normally in town, coming from pretty different economic/social backgrounds (Lena’s family was rather wealthy, while Roza’s was just scraping by) and Roza being a whole 6 years younger, but Lena’s thirst for adventure often lead her to sneak away from her home in order to play in the wilderness surrounding the town, which also happened to serve as Roza and her brother Nicolai’s (who was much closer to Lena’s age) playground. The brother sister pair happily welcomed the opportunity to have another playmate around whenever she did get the chance to come out, and Roza especially enjoyed the more adventuresome imaginative games that Lena would bring to the group (like treasure hunt! ^^), instead of the cops and robbers (excuse to roughhouse) sort of games she’d get with just Nicolai around. Lena often spoke about her wish to find real adventure elsewhere, so when she suddenly left town at 14 (Roza being 8), Roza wasn’t particularly surprised, but was a little sad to see her friend go and hoped she’d manage to stay safe. She has no idea that Lena is now in the Johto army, and again would feel horribly betrayed if she did find out. Lena most likely is unaware of the recent death of her former playmate Nicolai while fighting against Johto, or Roza’s decision to take his place in the Kanto forces.

(old photo featuring above two soldiers: [link])

SergeiRuchkin: [link] a fellow Army branch soldier. He’s not from Snowpoint but as a nomadic Cossack with some shared traditions passed down from ancestors who were from the far North; Sergei is really the closest thing to a little bit o’home she’s seen since enlisting. Along w/ shared accents and fuzzy hats, they both harbor a pretty serious grudge against johto (albeit for individual personal reasons) so Roza may not act like besties w/ Sergei just yet, but he has made it onto the list of “People She Doesn’t Hate”, which is pretty good progress actually.
[link] [link] [link]