PLAYER: Helen Rose	CHARACTER: Alicia Westfield
PRONOUNS: She/Her AGE: 22 ORIENTATION: Bi-curious LOCATION: Peoria, IL OCCUPATION: Remote Computer Technician	GENDER: Female AGE: Adult ENABLE PKMN SPEECH? Yes PAIN THRESHOLD: Reduced TRAINER CLASS: Gardener

OUT OF THE GAME Some people are always in the spotlight as far as the masses are concerned. Scientists, athletes, actors, and so on tend to never go a day without someone mentioning their name somewhere in the world. Others can barely be remembered in simple day to day life by those who are around them all day. And Helen had the misfortune of being in the latter category. Born to a decently well off family, there was a trial when it came to being recognized from the beginning. Her mother was successful enough. Her father, however, had passed unexpectedly before her birth. As often happened when a child only had a singular parent who had to consistently be away from the house, Helen grew up only knowing that her own mother never had time for her and left her in the hands of hired help when she wasn’t in school. She never particularly suffered beyond the loneliness. But when she was in the hands of a sitter, she was largely ignored unless she needed something important and pestered her minder enough to notice. It was much the same when it came to school. Nobody approached her, and the lack of engagement earlier on left her uncertain of how to make her own voice heard so that she could approach them first. Helen did, fortunately, have enough parental contact to learn right and wrong, and had generally been a good kid. She just fell into the unfortunate spiral of loneliness breeding social awkwardness that fed the loneliness that bred more awkwardness, until she was largely reclusive. But computers had always been there, and she had been brighter then most. The quiet brewed by a lack of a circle of friends contributed immensely to academic excellence, and a quick request that took far too long to formulate had seen her enrolled in and properly equipped for online classes for computer sciences and coding. They were things that she found she had an eerie knack for, which she then leveraged into becoming a reputable technician. All done remotely, as she feared her awkwardness once seen in person would sink her efforts to support herself. The anonymity of a user name online was enough of a shield to work around her social issues at least. But that awkwardness haunted her day after day. So when she came across UnoVR, she was instantly in metaphorical love. She had something that could keep her consistently engaged in the hours she wasn’t spending on one job or another. Though in all honesty, it shouldn’t have made sense on the surface. She wasn’t a dedicated follower of the series. The mainline Pokemon games failed to hold her interest outside of key moments thanks to their formulaic nature. The battle system wasn’t engaging enough, even with the ever so rare Triple Battles, to create the tension a battle should have. Several designs did appeal to her in one form or another. But not enough that she would go to bat for the whole series over them. She certainly had no friends who were waiting for her there either. It all spoke of someone who would abandon UNOVR quickly. But there were games that did hold her attention. Mainline may have had nothing for her, but in the side stories she found her excitement. The region of Orre, which had been terrorized by Cipher’s wicked Shadow Pokemon that she yearned to save. The Mystery Dungeon games, compelling isekai tales in her opinion as the human-turned-Pokemon finds their way in a world both familiar and alien. And in Legends Arceus, where one crafted one of the very tales that might be spoken of in the mainline series. To Helen, they had a spark to them that the main generations lacked. And in UNOVR she believed she could see that spark again. The MMO inherently overhauled combat. The new kinds of battle that could only be supported by the format UNOVR was functioning off of had her mind racing at the thought of the potential. And though she feared she was setting herself up for disappointment, there was one thing that still made it all worthwhile. The Pokemon could speak here, like that one Meowth could in the old anime. Or the way Psychic types realistically could thanks to their intelligence. If the AI that gave these creatures voice was sophisticated enough, it could serve as a jumping off point. A kind of ‘training’ to help her escape her own walls. To her, UNOVR held the key to everything she could want in a package that was familiar enough to catch her attention in the first place.

INSIDE THE GAME Alicia is, in a nutshell, everything Helen wants to be that she believes she can’t have in reality. Her entire intention for joining UnoVR is to escape her mediocrity, so she looked herself over and went as far in the other direction as the character creator would let her. Short and basic hair color changed for long and exotic-colored locks that would stand out in a crowd. A slim figure of no real noteworthy nature turned into something Helen believed would come off as beautiful. And a few more details to set herself apart from her real life self. Helen in reality is quiet, nervous outside of her expertise, and easily spooked. But with the physical changes came a confidence that shocked even her. As Alicia, she finds her voice and drive. Vocal, confident possibly to the point of seeming arrogant, brave to an almost foolish degree, and excited to take on anything. The ‘Alicia’ personality came about through being informed by the many other games where the hero’s journey is played out time and time again. The unwillingness to bend even in the face of impossible odds struck a chord in Helen’s heart. Thus, she crafted her character in order to be that unflinching hero. To be the one others could rely on when the going got tough. To face the darkness and laugh in defiance of the possibility of losing. The core of the individual is still a sweet but lonely girl, however, and this reflects in how Alicia tries her best to be kind and supportive of those she may meet and befriend. Because if she can be a hero, then any one should have the chance to take the spotlight for themselves as well. And further more a lonely hero is a sad hero. So Alicia has a drive to take care of those around her, trying to inspire them to reach higher if they’re in a slump. It was a drive born of a hope of finally having something resembling a circle of friends, even if they’re in a virtual reality game. Because if she succeeds, then at long last she wouldn’t be truly alone anymore.

FACE CLAIMS IRL CHARACTER [u]Neon Genesis Evangelion[/u] Maya Ibuki as [a href="link to character app"Helen Rose[/a] PLAYER CHARACTER [u]Dragalia Lost[/u] Louise as @alicia

OOC NAME AzureGhidorah

STARTER PKMN Do you want to receive your starter in-character at the Starter Lab? YES, I CHOOSE CHIKORITA! START ME A THREAD!