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Nate grew up in the rural areas around Goldenrod City, but as an adult moved to the city and joined GCPD as a police officer. He was on the force for nearly a decade, and was an extremely effective officer; he got results, but he always kept the greater good in mind, and used his personal discretion on many an occasion. He actually also logged time as a social worker, and occasionally acted as a probation officer for offenders he’d become invested in. He was forced to medically retire after receiving a severe leg injury while responding to a distress call that led him into a much more dangerous scenario than he was expecting. After a brief period of feeling directionless, Nate quickly rebounded and attended a vocational school, initially finding employment as a mechanic attached to the police department before branching out and starting his own garage (although all his old buddies and police cruisers still get discounts). He’s found the hands-on labor and meticulous attention to detail in mechanical work very rewarding, and was happily settled into a new phase in his life until the disasters struck Ohana and he failed to be able to reach his brother, later seeing his name listed among the missing, and so packed up and shipped out. 

The details of Nate’s history can be found in his Pokemons’ bios, which are listed in the order of their coming into Nate’s life. (however, the important information is in Fielding and Marcus’)

Fielding
Ampharos / male
Fielding was Nate’s first pokemon, raised as a mareep when Nate was a boy for a community agricultural competition (think 4H sheep shows). After the showing, Nate couldn’t bear to part with the mareep at auction and his parents let him keep him. Fielding was a fully grown ampharos by the time Nate joined the force and actually trained as a service animal while Nate was at the academy, and they rode together for years.

Partly from his natural personality and partly from all the arcanines and houndooms he romped with on GCPD, Fielding is very physically affectionate and has a rascally sense of humor. He’s also very chivalrous and has high respect for perceived hierarchies, be they official chains of command or unofficial pecking orders, and doesn’t tolerate what he sees as wanton disorder (after all, pranks and shenanigans are an expected and beneficial part of barrack life, but laziness or insubordination are a different thing entirely).

Fielding’s tuned in to just about every thought and emotion Nate has, knowing just when to give his partner a sympathetic headbump or to zap him and bound away snorting. 


*******

Diesel 
Skarmory / male
Diesel is a friggin’ crazy bird. He’s loud, boisterous, chronically oblivious, and thinks everything is a game. He loves a good fight, and really couldn’t care less if he wins or loses, so long as he gets to tear stuff up. Nate picked up Diesel after they busted a cockfighting ring, and unlike most of the other birds (which nearly always have to be put down simply because they’re unsalvageably violent and aggressive), Diesel appeared unfazed, scaring the crap out of Nate when he jumped out of a pile of crates and tackled Fielding, but proceeded to confuzzle every cop present (including the stunned and battle-primed Fielding) when he bounced around, waggled his tail, and was apparently trying to play...tag? Diesel’s thick-headed obliviousness managed to spare him the trauma of the circumstances he was in. Honestly, he just never really got it. His steel hide and high defense meant he could take hits all day long, and the fact that the other guy was trying to *kill* him just never clicked. It was all a game.

Nate agreed to take him, as the skarmory had decided that Fielding was his new best friend, and Diesel’s life took a turn for the better. He still doesn’t get the significance of his rescue, but he does know that Nate is *way* nicer than those other guys and that Fielding plays with him and he loves his new flock very, very much. Nate has to watch him though, cause he’ll run himself into the ground if a wiser head doesn’t tell him when to stop.


*****

Marcus 
Machoke / male
Marcus is actually involved in the incident that forced Nate to retire from policing. He was born and raised in the criminal underworld, and eventually wound up sold to a racketeer working for a crime lord in Goldenrod. Marcus is quiet, loyal, and utterly professional, and while he did his job as the 800 pound gorilla in the room VERY well, he was never cruel. While people rarely told a man “no” when Marcus was standing behind him, additional persuasion was sometimes needed, and it was while collecting protection money that Marcus and Nate crossed paths. 

Nate responded to a call that he thought was a simple domestic, and instead found himself confronting members of the leading crime syndicate shaking down a small business owner. While the details are known to very few outside the department, at the end of it all, Nate would up with a crippling leg injury, and the racketeers and Marcus were all arrested. However, in a very surprising move, Nate made a good-faith testimony and arranged for a lessening of Marcus’ sentence, even offering to take responsibility as the probation officer. While Nate’s conflict of interest would normally prohibit this, when Marcus made the even more surprising move of accepting, the judge allowed it. Marcus has been bound to and working for Nate for the last four years, and has to wear a tracking belt at all times. 


*****

Valentine
Heatmor / male
Valentine is the power house of the team and knows it, but he’s quiet about it. He has a steady confidence about him, and if someone’s talking smack or trying to push him around, he’ll just stand there until they’re quite done, after which he’ll either A) saunter over and loom over them like the steaming giant that he is until they apologize and slink away, or B) file the incident away until they have a chance to battle and he’ll show them just how wrong they are. 

Nate got Val around the same time as McQueen after he’d committed to a new life as a mechanic and engineer, as a fire type is useful to have around as a heat supply. He’s essentially a walking, pressurized furnace, but while he wouldn’t quite qualify as a ‘gentle’ giant, he’s certainly a patient one and is a steady and dependable member of the team. 


*****

McQueen
Walrein / male
Quite frankly, McQueen thinks he’s the shiz. He loves a challenge and revels in competition, and is overly concerned with his “image” and “reputation” and very intentionally cultivates both. He’s also completely smitten with the badass imagery of motorcycle gangs, hence the chops. He pestered Nate for years and finally came into ownership of his very own motorcycle, which lives in the garage and McQueen sleeps next to almost every night. He makes Nate clean it regularly, despite it’s rarely being driven. He also wants a tattoo, which Nate refuses to indulge, and is extremely jealous of Marcus’. 

Nate got McQueen the same time as Val, because a water/ice type is also very useful to have around as an emergency cooling system and a water supply for steam tech. While he can be an obnoxious braggart, he includes the team in that self image and brags about them as often as himself, and gets just as offended if anyone slights Nate as if they insulted his ponytail.


*****

Fetch
Zigzagoon / male
Fetch was actually just a pest that settled in around the shop and made a general nuisance of himself. He has an irresistible compulsion to steal and horde all things shiny or otherwise interesting, and so he was perpetually making off with tools and small parts. Nate’s feelings towards the zigzagoon went through a lengthy evolution, from disinterested to annoyed to rather amused, with the little varmint throwing off his well ordered world, and the zigzagoon, while always darting away scared, never left the shop’s vicinity no matter how many wrenches were thrown at him. All in all, the steady stealing and recovery of items became almost a game. After a particularly eventful bout of chase with Nate desperately trying to retrieve a drill bit before the zigzagoon squirreled it away, a piece of equipment ended up falling on the small pokemon, injuring him rather significantly. Nate realized just how much he cared about the little bugger and rushed him to the Pokecenter. All pretenses were dropped and Fetch became part of the team.