Airi Shigeta

[Airi Shigeta]

Name: Airi Iolana Shigeta
Age: 25
Date of Birth: June 20
Birthplace: Hapuu Town, Aina
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual
Trainer Class: Pokemon Ranger
Face Claim: One Piece - Nico Robin

Appearance:

Height: 5'9"
Distinguishing Features: None of note

Personality: Airi is a pretty laid-back person. She sees her work as much as a hobby as a job, and treats it as such in her attitude. Which isn't to say that she doesn't take her jobs seriously. Quite the opposite: she gets really into them. When she's on duty as a Ranger, she's out exploring, heading through unspoiled wilderness, protecting it and people traveling through it. She approaches this as a camping enthusiast would treat a trip to a new and exciting locale. And in many ways, it's kind of the same thing, except that she has responsibility to more people to herself. And as a tour guide, she gives everything the job requires and more. In addition to driving people around the island, pointing out places of interest, and making stops at the most notable areas, she explains some of the more notable plantlife, takes guests to roadside shops selling the best local food, schedules a swimming stop, and gives guests a choice of how to approach some of the later stops. In contrast, she's less enthusiastic about the more city-based side of her job, including the tour company's headquarters in Lani City, but she tends to keep that sort of thing to herself and deal with it. She has no plans on changing any of it; extremists make her nervous.

She's pretty easy to get along with. She'll even try to give obvious assholes and crazy people the benefit of the doubt, something she usually comes to regret pretty quickly. It's obvious recklessness and self-endangerment that bothers her the most, a product of having lessons on safety being drilled into her head from an early age. When she's off-duty she's quite carefree, and all too willing to kick back with a drink and some good food. And if someone else is around, hey, that's more than okay. She's not too fond of crowds though, another reason why she ends to avoid Lani City when she can help it. And as much as she enjoys her jobs, she's also quick to jump at the chance for a bit of time off. Never too much, though. Both the work and the time off lose their charm if she's away from the former too much.

She's still a little iffy on the idea of owning Pokemon, being discomforted by the idea of cramming them into tiny balls or leaving them in PC storage. Because of this, she leaves them out of their balls and allows them to run free whenever possible. She'd do so at all times or even avoid using PokeBalls entirely if she could, but has come to accept them as a necessary evil.

Likes: Her home, beautiful places, sushi, her job, time off from her job, mai tais, swimming, being able to get out of contact

Dislikes: Disrespectful tourists, big cities, dry spells, injuries, overcooked food, crowds, being on call, recklessness

History:
Airi is an Aina Region native, born in the remote Hapuu Town. Her father was a botanist, who needless to say felt perfectly at home in the dense rainforest around the town, while her mother ran a roadside grill out of a trailer, which still had better fish than your average steakhouse or mainland "seafood" restaurant. It attracted a decent amount of business from tourists traveling the Hapuu Highway, so they lived fairly comfortably. At least, comfortably for the remote location. While Hapuu Town had most of the modern conveniences in some measure, it was still in many ways cut off from the rest of the island. Getting even to Ahi Town was a rough trek and even rougher drive, to say nothing of traveling back along the Hapuu Highway. And wandering off into the rainforest without a Pokemon or basic survival skills (or better yet, both) was a good way to get hurt at best, or go missing until it's too late at worst.

But that was how Airi liked it. She was surrounded by unspoiled nature, and quickly learned to love it. She started trying to explore at a very young age, leaving her father to desperately try and keep up with valuable lessons that would help keep her alive. Which, while they annoyed her at first ("do I haaaave to?"), she quickly shut up and accepted them after realizing that the alternative was to forbid her from exploring. She never got far, of course, not as a child, but even the small area around Hapuu Town, as lush as it was, was enough to fascinate the young girl for years on end. Then, as she got older, she was able to get as far as the beaches.

And oh, the beaches. Airi had seen a few while traveling with the family, from all around the island, surrounding regions, and even in Hoenn on a long-distance vacation. But with a beach with black sand to the northwest and one with red sand to the southeast, the best ones were always close to home. So when Airi was able to get to them on her own, she ended up spending most of her free time there. She quickly proved to be a natural swimmer, and didn't seem to be at all bothered by the frequent rainy weather. But the people kept her coming back as well. While the Hapuu Highway got many travelers, the town itself was usually just an end point, or even a step along the way. It was of little interest compared to the road there. But the beaches were a much more common stop, and Airi met a lot of travelers stopping there. It was a few of them there that convinced her to try and learn the road herself. She didn't try to become a trainer, having not really liked the idea of owning Pokemon and cramming them into little balls at the time. Instead, she accompanied people when she could. Her father, at first, then Rangers stationed in the area, then Hapuu Highway tours. Then when she was old enough, she learned to drive, and started taking the highway by car.

It would take another three more years, but with time and proof that she had come to know the eastern side of the island like the back of her hand, Airi landed a job as a tour guide. The tour company was based in Lani City, much to her disappointment (at least, when she saw the city's turn towards modernization). But the ability to drive through the environments she loved so much and introduce new people to them every time allowed her to quickly adjust to the job. But whenever she had an extended period of time off, she couldn't get back home faster. It helped that with phone signals being so sparse out in the rainforest, she could easily get out of contact if she wanted.

While she hadn't yet resolved to keep any personal opinions separate from work, she did at least try to be discrete in what she said. After all, taking a less than pleased attitude about a city that tourists probably valued for being similar to home wouldn't do her any favors. But she would soon learn that it was best to watch what she said even among native Ainans. It was an older man named Kealii who hit her with this hard lesson, not through a threat but through an invitation. An offhand comment about being wary of Lani City's modernization was met with an agreeing response that quickly started to turn into a small speech. At first, Kealii's words made sense, but his remarks about how it "had to be stopped at all costs" before Aina became unrecognizable, and blaming the region's booming tourism business, made Airi nervous. By the time Kealii finished and extended her an invitation to join his organization ("Team Silversword", another red flag from the name alone) she could not have wanted to get away from him faster. Needless to say, she rejected it.

Instead, concerned for the safety of tour customers, she reported the incident to the Pokemon Rangers the next time she was in Ahi Town. After a few discussions about what to do about how to handle the situation, she ended up getting an invitation to become a Ranger herself. She accepted, under the condition that she be able to continue as a tour guide as well. But, as it turned out, that was the point. What better way to ensure a Ranger was present on Hapuu Highway tours than for them to be a guide. She'd still end up with a lot more work, but as long as it allowed her to be out in nature, she was fine with that. Somewhat less thrilling was the idea of owning Pokemon, but she'd warmed up to the idea over time, resolving to leave any Pokemon she carried out of their balls as often as possible. So, after a trip down to Lani City's Pokemon lab, she had finally become a Pokemon Trainer. Then, a short mandatory training period later, she was a Pokemon Ranger as well.

Nowadays, she's acclimated to working both jobs alongside each other. She doesn't have as much free time as she could hope for, but she values what time she can get, and enjoys her work to the fullest the rest of the time. She hasn't made much progress as a Pokemon trainer, but she's learning. She doesn't have any particular plans for aiming for the top or being the master or anything like that, but if Team Silversword ever does make a move when she's in a position to fight back, she wants to be ready.

Starter Pokemon:
Lotad "Kappashiro"
Ability: Rain Dish
Moves: Rain Dance, Bubble Beam, Mega Drain, Nature Power

Aron "Kaiju"
Ability: Sturdy
Moves: Metal Claw, Rock Tomb, Protect, Iron Defense

Additional Info: N/A

Played By: Satori

Other Characters: Karin Norling

[Akira]

Approved!
Me likey~