Mia Tamaoka

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Mia Tamaoka
Mia Tamaoka Picrew v02.png
IC Information
Full Name: Mia Tamaoka
Gender: Female (she/her)
Age (Birthdate): 14
Hometown: Lavender Town
Hair Color: Light Purple
Eye Color: Pale Silver
Class: Runaway Medium
Role: Antagonist
Bounty: 0 Gella
OOC Information
Theme: Original Character
Major Group: Team Rocket
Minor Groups: None
Player: Talnora

"Now it's my turn to have a little fun! Purri, let's go!"

Born to a family with long ties to the Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town, at an early age it was discovered that Mia had a rare gift: Spiritsight, the ability to perceive and communicate with both ghosts and Ghost-type pokemon. Her parents, seeing a chance for great prestige for their family, pushed her into following the family tradition and studying to become a medium. There's just one problem: Mia's Spiritsight causes her anxiety and distress, a fact she has never been able to convince her parents of. Faced with the prospect of being stuck in Lavender Town for the rest of her life, Mia convinced her parents to let her take a Pokemon Journey. She reunited with her only childhood friends, Peace and Joy, and upon realizing they had joined Team Rocket, decided to join too. With Anne Aomori's guidance she has started to embrace Team Rocket's ways more and more, and has recently decided to live as the version of herself she's always wanted to--which includes grasping for everything she's ever denied herself.

Background

An Unexpected Gift

For generations, the Tamaoka family has been associated with the Pokémon Tower in one form or another: some acted as simple groundskeepers, others would perform burial rites. Some with a certain knack would become mediums, helping to soothe the spirits of the recently departed pokémon, or to provide reassurances to the living.

So when Mia was born with particularly pale silver eyes, they knew it was a portent, even if they were not exactly sure of what. But as Mia grew older it became clear that she had a very high spiritual sensitivity. She was able to perceive both the spirits of the dead as well as Ghost-type pokemon, when when they attempt to hide or otherwise disguise their forms, without the use of advanced rituals or specialized technology. What's more, she is also capable of communicating with them.

Her parents were ecstatic. Mia would become a medium par excellence, and a great credit to their family lineage. They immediately geared her education to learning the craft, placing tremendous pressure on her in the process. There was just one problem.

Mia's ability caused her no small amount of distress.

Being exposed to them constantly from such a young age frightened her, and she dreaded the thought of becoming a medium and being forced t0 work with them constantly, but her parents wouldn't relent. Her ability also had other sensory inputs, though Mia was unable to articulate those feelings for a long time. The issue came to a head one day when, while exploring the forests near Lavender Town, a Misdreavus came out of nowhere to frighten her. She was scarred by the encounter, and no amount of cajoling by her parents would get her to resume her studies; she couldn't even handle dealing with the family's loyal Houndstone anymore.

Eventually, they were forced to get her a pokemon companion for emotional support. When Mia went to visit with the available options, a Purrloin walked right up to her and jumped up into her lap. The purring of the feline pokémon soothed Mia, and petting through her fur helped even more. Plus she was also a Dark-type pokemon, so she would be able to protect Mia from ghosts, an assurance the young girl sorely needed. Her parents were less than thrilled about this development but went along, for once, thinking it would help get Mia back on track.

Mia named the Purrloin Purri, and they bacame fast friends, with Mia quickly coming to rely on her new friend for many of her day-to-day tasks. But in return, Mia took excellent care of Purri, sparking a desire to learn more about caring for and raising Pokémon.

Precious Friends

With her family being so closely aligned with the Pokemon Tower, Mia had difficulty making friends. Nobody wanted to associate with the girl whose family tended a graveyard. Not an insurmountable problem... until her gift came to light. After that, it became all the more difficult to interact with the other children.

There were, however, two notable exceptions. Joy, having difficulties of her own, was able to see how lonely Mia was thanks to her psychic powers, and after some awkward false starts the two struck up a friendship. They found a lot of common ground, between having supernatural abilities and difficulties with family. The other was Peace who had avoided her own family's wishes for her to work in the Tower, and could sympathize with Mia's plight.

Then one day, Peace, the oldest of the three, set off on her Pokémon Journey and eventually went to become a research assistant. Then Joy left on her own Journey, became a Champion, and then was forced into nursing school. Mia kept up with both of them online, but... it just wasn't the same. But still, things stayed largely the same for several years, with Mia being the only one left in Lavender Town unable to leave.

Then, several years later, Joy left her nursing school in Celadon. Mia could still reach her, but she was vague and evasive about what she was doing. And Damian noticed that even Peace was sometimes not terribly responsive either. She grew increasingly worried about her friends, and feeling increasingly trapped at home, she came up with a plan.

She sold his parents on the idea of her taking a Pokemon Journey. Sure, she was getting a late start on it, at age 14, but it was easy enough to sell them on the idea that she needed to go learn about the burial customs and rites in other parts of Nede, and to meet other Ghost-type pokémon she hadn't encountered yet.

And so, under the cover of a Pokémon Journey, and with Purri by her side, Mia left home for the first time determined to reunite with her friends.

Blasting Off

During her travels, Mia unexpectedly discovered an egg in her backpack while camping. This brought her into contact with Anne Aomori, whom she contacted to ask for assistance with the egg. Anne won major points with her by ecouraging her to make the choice she wanted, not the ones her parents would want... and she decided to look after it.

Mia was otherwise having bad luck figuring out what was going on with her friends, until she caught a news report depicting Team Rocket attacking Professor Oak's lab. Joy and Peace were there... fighting on the side of Team Rocket. Mia contacted them by text, explaining that she knew but didn't care, and just wanted to see them again. They met, and Mia expressed how difficult things had gotten, how her Journey was just an excuse to get away.

Joy and Peace took Mia in, and unbeknownst to her contacted Anne to let her know they had done so. When Mia next met with Anne, she researcher revealed that she knew Mia was in contact with Team Rocket members, and subtly laid out the pros and cons of being friends with Team Rocket members versus being in the organization... Mia hesitatingly asked how to join. It was only then that Anne revealed her own affiliation, welcoming Mia to Team Rocket.

Mia's faith to the Team Rocket cause has been... unsteady, at best. Anne has been working with her to build up her confidence, battle capability, and general physical fitness. However, a chilling event on Lunar has galvanized her resolve. When returning from Lunar, Mia encountered four poachers threatening a group of Silicobra. Mia attempted to stand up to them, but the situation was resolved with a shocking act of violence almost unthinkable to Mia's Nedian sensibilities.

When one of the poachers threatened Mia with a sword, Ruth Pauling, in her Hellion form, shot and killed all four poachers.

The act so upset Mia that she turned to Anne to try and process the event. After gently admonishing her for taking on such an unnecessary risk, she gently guided Mia through a discussion of strength, and how Team Rocket's philosophy incorporated it. Scared and feeling powerless, Mia resolved to embrace those ideas.

After their next operation, Anne and Mia discussed Team Rocket's philosophy further. Anne encouraged Mia to indulge her desires more... and after some contemplation Mia revealed to Anne that she was transgender, and wanted to start living as a girl.

She's also resolved to start chasing everything everything she's ever been denied or denied herself, intending to embrace Team Rocket's philosophy further. Anne is uncertain how well she'll take to it, in the end, but only time will tell.

Powers and Abilities

Mia was born with a rare ability called Spiritsight. This confers a strong spiritual sensitivity, and with it the ability to sense and perceive ghosts and Ghost-type pokemon, even when they attempt to hide or conceal their true form. She also has the ability to communicate with them, and can do all this without external assistance, such as a ritual or a technological device.

The primary physical manifestation of Mia's Spiritsight is that her eyes are unusually pale and silver. Mia's version of spiritsight works mostly passively, but when she makes more active use of it her eyes shimmer.

Whether through being born with an unusually high spiritual sensitivity, some quirk of her neurology, or something else, Mia's Spiritsight can sometimes cause physical discomfort for her, especially in the presence of strong sources of spiritual powers. Her parents' insistence on her learning to use her abilities to become a medium has also caused some anxiety issues in the presence of ghosts.

Whether because she has an innate spiritual sensitivity, an explicit feature of Spiritsight, or through some other means, Mia is also Resonant, though until the Visitors arrived on Nede, she was not aware of this fact or what it meant. Since learning of Resonance (by meeting Seraph Lanval), she has also come to learn of Malevolence and Hellions; strong sources of Malevolence also cause her discomfort, as well.

She is also versed in all of the skills of a medium in training, though is loathe to call upon them without a sufficiently compelling reason.

She is practiced in minor symbology. Most of it is related to the work of being a medium or performing various rituals, but she also knows some more general defensive spells. Her most frequently used spell is a touch-range healing spell that she uses with her pokemon.

When Mia set out on her pokemon journey, she didn't have ambitions of becoming a pokemon trainer. However, learning of the threats of Filgaia and Lunar, being required to participate in Team Rocket missions, and the gaining of a rival in the form of Sable--not to mention her own burdgeoning confidence--have given her a reason to commit more to building out her team and developing her strategic capabilities.

Aside from gaming online, Mia's main hobby is the care and grooming of pokémon. Once she got Purri, and had her own pokémon to take care of, she started reading up on the best ways to care for one, and has a strong hobbyist interest in pokémon Breeding and caretaking.


Relationships

Name My thoughts...
Purri "My first pokémon and my best friend... Sometimes I'm not exactly sure where I'm headed, but I know I'll figure it out with you at my side."
Alice "One of my best and only friends from Lavender Town. We're alike in a lot of ways, and I want us to keep watching out for each other. I just hope you'll approve of the goals I'm thinking of..."
Nami "My other best and only friend from Lavender Town. I've always admired how brilliant you are, and I wish the Nede was more willing to listen to your ideas. You've been invaluable helping me raise Mypsy."
Doctor Aomori "You've been a really good mentor to me... I want to work really hard and show you that all that time you spent won't be a waste."
Jessie and James "I owe you both a lot for encouraging me, when I needed it."
Rile Felis "You're really strong, and I admire that. ... Please keep looking after Timu."
Timu Guado "... I'm sorry you found out the way you did. But... This is what I've decided to pursue."
Sable Aomori "We're... Rivals, now. I can't explain why, but that kind of makes me excited to fight you again? But I won't stop reaching for the type of strength I've chosen."
Nina Chiyome "Your art is really cool, and your ninja skills are, too. But I'm not leaving Team Rocket."
Chartreuse Spinosa "Thanks for offering to help but... I don't think I'll be needing it, now."
Dirk Swordsman "We'll see whose version of strength will win in the end. ... I still think you're kind of cool, though."
Ida Everstead-Rey ""I really look up to you, but when you find out... I hope Mypsy and Erasmus can still see each other."
Shige Kiwako "I know, I know. I should be using my talents. There's just... a lot that's hard to explain."
Chase "... I know what I told you before, but... I hope you'll understand, when you find out I've changed my mind. Losing you as a friend would..."
Ruth Pauling "... I hope you find some peace and comfort someday. But I won't let you kill for us. Not again."

Notable NPCs

Purri

Mia's first, and until recently, only pokemon. She is Mia's emotional support companion, serving many roles. First and foremost, she provides comfort to Mia when she is in distress; accordingly, she is highly attuned to her moods. Damian's largest anxieties revolve around Ghost-type pokemon, so Purri will often leap into action to drive them off.

But beyond protection from ghosts and physical care and comfort, Purri also fulfills a lot of other roles to help Mia manage her life. She will remind Mia when she has tasks that need to be done, pull her out of situations where she has gotten too fixated on something, and has been observed doing everything from helping Mia check that she has packed everything in her backpack to keeping time for her while she runs laps.

Purri is keenly intelligent, and Mia has to come to rely on her a lot. But inexchange for all of the help Purri gives her, Mia lavishes lots of care and attention on her. Everything from grooming to food, Mia is always striving to provide the best of for Mia. Accordingly, the two have developed a tight bond, both of them willing to go through any lengths for the other.

By nature, Purrloins are a mischevious lot, and Purri, while being very well behaved on the whole... still has a playful streak at times, though usually it's only directed at targets she deems acceptable for some reason. (Jessie and Jame's Meowth is one such target.) But she is also capable of demonstrating great care and compassion, especially towards younger pokemon, whom she has a tendency to act like a sort of big sister towards.

One of Purri's favorite activities is to nap curled up to a nice warm Fire-type pokemon.

Logs and Cutscenes

Chapter 3, Act 1

Note: Prior to coming out on May 4th, 2024, Mia went by Damian and used he/him pronouns.

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