SANTERI ABEL

osku. zebstrika. male. energetic nature. sap sipper ability. stomp. 
    one of the most loyal pokemon the boy has and one that was his starter is osku. he trained him from a blitzle, and through all that bonding time, they are almost like family. osku has become quite protective over santeri, and will defend him like santeri would defend him. even if they can't really communicate with each other either, there is just that mutual respect and connection there. osku will worry about santeri, santeri will worry about osku. they have each other's backs it seems- they even try to take care of each other. and even if his other pokemon are loyal, osku is by far the most loyal to him. but besides that, osku can happen to cheer up the others on the team. mainly because he is energetic by nature, he is usually out and about and active. even playing with the others can sometimes cheer them up when they are down. but, sometimes, he just isn't very careful. being a larger creature and all.

ruchel. ponyta. female. snotty nature. run away ability. growl.
    one of the most prissy pokemon on the teams and one of the pokemon more difficult to take care of is ruchel. she tends to be stubborn, and not so nice most of the time. even trying to get more food than the others even if there isn't much food to spare sometimes. this leads to it being a bit difficult to handle her, but usually some conversation can get the stubborn mare to go along with the others and the idea of things.

mikko. aron. male. clingy nature. rock head ability. head smash. shiny.
    mikko could almost be considered the toddler among all of them. not only does he have to be watched almost constantly out of the pokeball since he tends to be a bit top heavy, but he is also rather clingy. he loves the attention of others and could cuddle up to someone all day. santeri doesn't mind the affection, and even if some of his pokemon may get a bit annoyed by the behavior, they get along with him just fine most of the other times. 

veino. dedenne. male. adorable nature. pick up ability. tackle. shiny.
    how veino and santeri met was a bit rugged, and maybe it was because santeri had fell asleep on top of the smaller pokemon's home by accident- and even with apologizes, veino rammed into his chest and broke a couple ribs. to apologize more, santeri offered to take him along and be apart of the team. veino seems to get along with the others and is rather friendly, generous, even if he'll use his appearance to get what he wants from others from time to time. 

Suoma. pancham. male. gluttonous nature. scrappy ability. leer. 
    in the same boat as ruchel, this pokemon is a bit bossy and rather pushy. he tries to eat more than everyone else, even if there isn't much food- which hopefully he'll soon realize that santeri will starve himself so that his pokemon could have more when the food isn't there. trying to be the leader among them, he'll sometimes challenge the others. but otherwise, despite the stubbornness and such- he does try to get along with the others. 

siiri. buneary. female. lonely nature. limber ability. pound.
    despite getting as much attention as the others, siiri can't help but think she is just an add on and that they'd do much better without her. leading in her distancing herself from the others a bit, despite getting along with them rather well. but, she sometimes doubts her beliefs when she is given attention and taken care of. since it kind of clicks in her head a bit that she can rely on them.

artturi. pachirisu. male (identifies as female). persistent nature. no ability. no egg move. companion.
    this was santeri's first companion who was obtained during a mission when he was helping out with picking applies. the pachirisu insisted on getting some apples to eat- and santeri eventually shared one with her. she is very persistent and quite friendly, becoming attached to sante but also getting along with the others on the team. quite loyal, she also tries to keep everyone together so they don't have issues.

vanamo. sewaddle. female. sweet nature. no ability. no egg move. companion.
    probably the sweetest and most caring pokemon on the team is vanamo who loves attention and loves to cuddle- like mikko. but, she isn't very clingy or attention seeking. just a very friendly pokemon who doesn't really want to hurt others, and would rather take care of others and see to it that they are okay. and most of the time, she is settled into santeri's hair- when it isn't flea infested. 

a very quiet person, he doesn't talk very much and he doesn't really socialize often. he isn't scared of people, and he tends to be really friendly too, when he does have to socialize and communicate. and speaking of which, he probably talks more to his pokemon and seems more upbeat around them too, even if he is more of a troubled kid who is quicker to snap at things. 

very determined too, and a hard worker, he'll complete whatever task one gives him and won't stop until it is completed either. he doesn't ask for much in return either, sometimes he'll do things for no charge- other times he just asks for a bit of food, maybe some soap, a bit of money, or a place to stay during the night. this is probably because he is homeless and doesn't really have a place to stay- not wanting to be a parasite to someone else either.

tending to be a very independent person, he doesn't mind teamwork or having someone help him- he just prefers to do things by himself or with the assistance of the pokemon on his team that are with him. maybe it is because he doesn't want anyone getting to close.

his upbringing was probably far from pleasant. he was born into a finnish family, they were raised with english and finnish- finnish being santeri's first language actually. it was a fairly large family, but they were poor. the mother cared for them a lot, even if she and her husband could barely provide for them. some days some people went without food so the others could have more, even if they worked so hard for so little- they still had to sacrifice things like this.

starvation had actually killed off one of the siblings in later years, and while everyone mourned, she was just buried in the backyard and it was deemed it was just one less mouth to feed. he was about six when this happened and it was a bit traumatizing, but nonetheless- he entered the working force two years later to bring in some more income for the family. around this time, life slowly got better too. but, it was because santeri's father was getting involved in rougher crowds and more dangerous people. people who the father should stay away from, which worried his mother and made arguments more frequent.

and in the end, this rough crowd did catch up to the family. the father didn't pay his dues or upset the people he was working with to make money. in the end, the people his father was working with took their lives. it was a gruesome experience which lasted about a week in general. his mother was first to go so everyone could watch, seeing as they wanted the others to experience pain. 

after that murder, their father finally realized he screwed up everything- and that there was no way to stop it since there was no way to fix anything. so within the next couple of days, the father had to watch as his family were quite literally picked apart. it traumatized santeri, more than the death of his sister, causing him to be more of a recluse in later years when it came to people. maybe even shell up, and push people aside. it was probably the reason why he decided he wanted to help people, and keep others from being hurt.

and somewhere within this week, santeri managed to escape the bonds he was in. maybe it was because the rope was loose, or that they untied him to let him do something- but either way, santeri ran. of course he was chased, and a couple of people who were working with his father was after him, but he managed to eventually make it out of the region. he would have gotten help, but the damage was already done. their father would have been arrested for dealing in illegal means, the criminals would have been arrested, and any surviving siblings would just be sent to the orphanage with him.

calling the police wouldn't bring back his mother or his siblings already lost. calling the police wouldn't fix what had been wrong. calling the police wouldn't fix his father's mistake. calling the police wouldn't get these people to calm down, it'd only make them more angry. calling the police wouldn't make the wrong things right.

so, even if it was horrible to know he was leaving everyone behind to face their death- santeri hoped that they just managed to escape as well and he accepted the fact that getting anyone to try and help the situation just wouldn't work. he fled the region, scared for his life, and he eventually made his way to phoenix by the time he was fourteen.

at the age of fifteen, he joined the rangers. one of the youngest people there, santeri does try to show he can keep up despite his age. his starter was osku too, and he had done a few missions to get him ranked up a badge. despite having gotten lost in the jungle for a bit somewhere along the way- yet things are still just difficult for him in general. probably emotionally or mentally, maybe both.