Post by Jasper Stone on Jan 20, 2014 12:13:04 GMT -6
JASPER AUGERO STONE
(JAS-per and YAHS-per are both accepted pronunciations when using full name.
AHG-ero is the only acceptable way to pronounce his middle name.
Stone should hopefully be obvious to pronounce.
He would prefer people call him Doctor Stone, Doctor, etc. but will answer to Jasp as well, pronounced only JAS-p however, considering he finds YAH-sp to sound weird. Some of his siblings when younger have also called him Kasper because it was somehow easier to say. Honestly to a certain extent he will respond to anything that remotely sounds like his name though he doesn't like to admit it. )
(JAS-per and YAHS-per are both accepted pronunciations when using full name.
AHG-ero is the only acceptable way to pronounce his middle name.
Stone should hopefully be obvious to pronounce.
He would prefer people call him Doctor Stone, Doctor, etc. but will answer to Jasp as well, pronounced only JAS-p however, considering he finds YAH-sp to sound weird. Some of his siblings when younger have also called him Kasper because it was somehow easier to say. Honestly to a certain extent he will respond to anything that remotely sounds like his name though he doesn't like to admit it. )
Age: 38, born March 12
Gender: Male, Associates Male/Masculine also
Orientation: Pansexual - married to the job, no previous marriages or children to speak of
Profession: Survivor [Dips into the Researcher business when it suits him]
Occupation: Traveling Doctor
Appearance: [Please trust the description more than the FC/image]
Standing six foot two inches and bearing a thin yet muscular frame, Jasper has clung to youth like the last leaf on the tree. As someone who had been told in his earlier years that he would be baby-faced and childlike forever, Jasper now preens at the fact that he has still maintained a sort of youthfulness appearance wise easily looking a decade younger than he truly is. His features are still for the most part tight, his jawline pronounced and angular, his nose being sharp and almost to a literal point. Even his ears which are indeed pierced seem to be more angular than they should be- though this may or may not be due to where the cartilage is pierced. High cheek bones only add to this sharpness, though to some people the sheer magnitude of it gives him the appearance not of youth but of flesh being strung out tightly across a disparaged skull.
What would have been a large forehead is for the most part hidden by steel silver hair that falls ungracefully around his head. This is his natural color and has been his natural color since birth. He jokingly remarks that he has been an old man since birth too. Despite what many could argue is a forever bed-head, Jasper does try to control his hair- it honestly just doesn't give a damn about him, though. He has tried brushing it, flat ironing it, and even using gel to control is natural waywardness, but there seems to be little that actually works on his thick blue-grey locks, and as time has progressed, Jasper has stopped bothering with expensive changes. Instead, he brushes it, makes sure it looks somewhere between decimated and halfway decent and goes on. As if in a residual fear that facial hair would be as unruly as that which sits atop his head, Jasper is clean shaven and makes it a point to shave frequently to where not even stubble graces his features. Honestly, stubble might actually round out some of his features appearance wise and give him less of a sharp appearance, but trying to convince Jasper to deal with it for appearance alone will earn a laugh and a sarcastic remark at best.
All this is not to say that age has not touched Jasper's features and body. On the contrary, on closer inspection, he does bear the weight of stress, anxiety, and a profuse lack of sleep. Generally, one will find him almost always looking tired, the proverbial and literal bags under his deep purple eyes underscoring a thirst for sleep that never quite seems to be quenched. If he were to shove up his messy bangs, Jasper would reveal noteworthy forehead wrinkles the most notable of which happen to be where his eyebrows meet. Hidden very often by clothes, Jasper is laden with scars and markings upon his pale skin. As someone who travels frequently between the two cities to be of service to anyone who needs him, he has dealt with the wild, and it shows. His hands are forever calloused bearing an unruly roughness though he does try and take care of his nails through filing, at the very least- when they're not bitten to the quick, of course. There is a noticeable scar across his right hand knuckles from a series of unfortunate events that will be explained later, but the largest and most notable scars are what sits across his pectorals going from right to left. Two large gash marks have since scarred over becoming a tad darker on his normally pale skin, and thankfully there in a space that's normally hidden, least he feel the compulsive urge to explain to everyone what happened each and every single time.
Everyday Clothes: In town, Jasper wears scrubs and a lab coat wherever he goes making sure to keep everything at least mostly clean but not fretting too much on a small stain. His scrubs come in every color of the rainbow- or at least every color he can get his hands on due to limited resources and the like, however, he does favor the color blue saying that it brings out the blueish tint to his hair more readily than other colors. Outside of town/when traveling, Jasper wears more loose fitting clothing- normally a simple t-shirt, jacket, and jeans simply because they are a bit hardier than other clothing. He enjoys wearing boots in both situations simply because they are sturdy and durable.
Formal Garbs: To be perfectly honest, Jasper has nothing formal and sees so very little reason to have formal clothing in a world that is trying to kill you in one form or another. He does have a nicer pair of slacks he sometimes wears, but expect scrubs and a lab coat even in more dressy situations.
Pack: This bag holds his medical equipment as well as anything else he feels the need to carry. He also has a second one in black.
Personality:
Jasper is a man whose personality can sometimes be synonymous with his chosen doctoral occupation. He is a doctor in the morning, noon, and at night. He's a doctor when making sure his siblings eat healthy and exorcise, and he's a doctor when he ensures other people are healthy and getting what they need. The man ascribes to raise the standard of living and has made it a point to put it into every single part of his day if at all possible. He treats patients that can pay as well as those that cannot, taking time out of his day to ensure someone is healthy and has everything they need to be healthy. In a way, he is altruistic, willing to do whatever it takes to ensure someone is in a position that Jasper feels comfortable leaving them in. In another way, he is someone who has a horrid problem with getting into other people's private lives and business for their sake. Honestly he may say the latter but really Jasper is just a nosy sort of person, often getting into things way over his head and accidentally rubbing people the wrong way in his 'pursuit of medicine' as he calls it. Honestly he is a decent guy, if a bit of a medical zealot with a problem of keeping things to himself.
Upon meeting him for the first time, one will note Jasper is a cool-headed carefully honest person, a man who takes time out of his hour, day, whatever to ensure he is understood more than anything. Whereas some doctors may gargle jargon down someone's throat, Jasper often drops his vocabulary down to that of the lay-body in order to make this possible. Of course as an intellect geared towards medicine, he does have a habit of feeling superior to others, considering he has a skill that is noteworthy and different from the farm work and general survival skills of the number of populace around him. However, if it is one thing he has also learned in his life up till then, it is that everyone struggles. There is always a job needing to be filled and a person needing to fill it. He would drop being a doctor for a while to work the fields or honestly any job that he deemed necessary for the group's survival. He is not so high and mighty as to believe he can simply be a doctor and nothing more, and he feels no problem with getting his hands dirty if it meant more mouths could be fed and more lives could be saved. He is a man who would put his work of people's health before his own, in fact, willing to do back breaking labor even.
As one can gather, Jasper is a man who tries to be dynamic, someone who can do a little bit of everything he can get his hands on but focusing more readily on medicine. Considering he has more or less raised his siblings alongside his less-than-always-there father, even though they could probably argue he was less-than-there too at times, Jasper has learned a number of house skills and can cook, clean, and do whatever with a basic but steady hand. It is probably the fluidity in which he moves that is Jasper's greatest strength, giving him an ease in his hands even under stressful situations such as when someone is bleeding or the like. Though he is far from a master of the trades of chores, he gets them done and pulls what weight there is to pull when he is home. That being said, Jasper does have a few perfectionist qualities that drive him to try and do things above par in general. If the dishes aren't scrubbed well, bacteria could populate and his siblings could become sick. If the house isn't clean, much the same thing could happen. If he doesn't travel frequently between the two settlements, he could miss a patient, and they could die. He works towards perfection in planning and honestly everything he can get his hands on to say the least. However, that does not mean he's going to break down if something isn't perfect. As someone who has learned to deal with a situation rather than gripe about the past or what could have been done to prevent X, Y, Z event from happening, Jasper does his best to move forwards in all situations.
Jasper was and still is a studious person, someone who makes it a point to read and learn a new thing every day if he can. Medicine, especially now, is a field that never stops growing, and he doesn't want to stop growing least it get too far ahead of him. However, he not only makes it a point to learn more, but he does make it a point to think more in general. He is thoughtful and reflective in most matters, tending to over think a situation when left to himself, yet his brain has literally been in over drive for years now, and slowing it down is not an easy task and leaves him with a distilled feeling of loss. He likes to consider all angles, find holes in the box, and think out of the box, and in order to do this, he reads extensively, thinks progressively, and tends to be off in his own little world. People have noted before when talking to when he's in one of those reflective moods that he seems distant, his thoughts elsewhere most of the time, and his responses to things not quite up to par. Common small talk or even just personable questions are often replied to with an 'uh-huh' and maybe even a 'what did you say?' if he's interested in you as a person.
Under professional social conditions, Jasper is a calm well mannered extremely respectful individual. He will address even some teenagers as 'sir' or 'ma'am' unless outwardly told not to, and to those he doesn't, he very often uses their surnames rather than first names. While not a fan of small talk, he does not appear to mind listening to anything anyone has to say paying close attention to the information that is stated, the words that were used, and the physical body language which is offered. If asked for opinions, he'll often respond with what he deems appropriate, normally a curt if clear statement of encouragement or discouragement depending on the situation. However, he isn't someone that would hesitate to actually give advise if prompted to do so. He wants to be helpful and of use to others, after all, and again his brain goes into overdrive at times trying to come up with what to say in a situation.
However that being said, whereas Celebi is a Time Lord, Jasper is a Lord of Sarcasm. Unintentionally he can come off as very very rude, especially in situations that require extra care. He tries so desperately to moderate this, but considering it is a stem off of his younger years that he hasn't been able to cut back with the fear of stunting the tree, he's allowed it to grow unruly. He has a 'my way or the high--uhm...street? Mountain? Something long and treacherous, yeah that' mentality, and people that don't listen to him, that don't follow what advise he gives medically or otherwise, he can come off as snippy towards at best. Yes he wants people to succeed, yes he cares for others, but humans have the uncanny ability to also drive him up a wall, and in retaliation, Jasper allows snide condescending remarks to slip in at times. Again he does try very hard to moderate this, keeping some of his more harsh thoughts to himself and out of the public eye- especially when they *cough* aren't completely just about people ignoring what he has to say eitherok maybe he has more issues than he wants to admit to, but ever still.
Jasper just needs the right lure in order to get this fish to bite and talk your ear off. What he relishes more than anything is intellectual conversation, something more than personal experiences or likes and dislikes, he enjoys the transaction of ideas and information. Science has been and still is the very love of his life when he's honest with himself, and hearing any information on any subject that even remotely concerns it will cause this normally monotone distant man to spark with life and interest. Many are off put by the one hundred eighty degree turn in which he turns from, but Jasper himself does not even notice the transition. Science is life; science is everything. He relishes medicine, the aspect of science with which he has devoted his life to, and whereas some would enjoy talking about fashion, hard work, what have you, Jasper likes talking about anatomy, physiology, and gore. Even if he isn't prompted to do so, he has a habit of reminiscing certain medical procedures that others may find ... queasy or vomit worthy. He does try and keep the more disturbing topics off the table especially when children are around, considering he wouldn't readily tell his baby siblings (he doesn't care if they're teenagers now or even in their twenties *tear* they will forever be small children to him) such things, but if prompted, he does enjoy a good go around with the phantasm that is science.
For many and for Jasper included, most would rather him simply do his job rather than stop to chit chat. He is a very intelligent, highly capable doctor, and as one known to keep a cool head and fluid hands even under very stressful situations, he is useful to others. By nature Jasper thinks quickly, making associations, observations, and deductions through what logic he has come to have via his exposure to medicine books and other information over the years, and he shifts through possible actions with which to take before taking one and running with it. He is not someone that readily stalls, uncertain about what to do in a medical situation, and for this reason, he can react efficiently. Materialistic possessions mean little to Jasper though they are useful especially in the medical department. Due to growing up with limited resources, Jasper has learned how to make do with what he has, always wishing there was more but never stopping to day dream about it. His aim is to save lives, not dillydally on what could have been.
Likes:
Dislikes:
Backstory:
Despite its humble beginnings, the Devon Corporation of Hoenn had expanded years and years ago, and as time went on, the Stone family who primarily owned it expanded as well eventually encompassing a number of branches to which one Samuel Stone would develop from. Rather than delve into the family merchandise and poketech research business, he aspired to be a doctor- considering even during his generation, he was becoming aware of Hoenn's developing illnesses in part due to the malnutrition from depleted resources. As a man whose hard head determined nature matched his estranged love of science, he did well in medical school, and financing himself off the family money, he went about doing what he could for the populace of Hoenn. Well this one-man-medical-army could only do so much as one would expect, and with things growing progressively worse, he began to question his calling. He'd find solace in a rather personable Nurse Joy, Jenna, who assured him that he was doing good- and after an awkward amount of flirting, they ended up dating and even marrying- yay for awkward unexpected love?
Not quite when both were made aware of a baby on the way. By then, inflation due to lack of resources had thrown the family money off Mt. Chimney, and with more and more people unable to pay even the smallest of medical expenses, Samuel found himself dipping into pockets where there was no money at the bottom. He struggled to make ends meet, put food on the table, and supply two other mouths in time. It didn't help that the baby, affectionately named Jasper or "Jasp" as his mother sometimes referred to him, grew rather rapidly and was food vacuum if one ever existed. Jasper, of course, was oblivious to this during his early years. His earliest memories would be of his mother's pokemon center wherein he was sometimes encouraged to "help" people by playing with people's pokemon- yeah. When he grew into the years of instruction, he was put into school. Whereas some struggled in school balancing the classes and learning the material, it was rather easy for Jasper. His capacity to retain information proved not only to be his strongest quality but his best. Of course this came with the price of being labeled the teacher's pet and a know-it-all early on, but what was worse was that in retaliation, Jasper sprouted a heavy temper early on. He had an unruly knack for verbally cutting down his peers with ridicule and venom, and when the principal called his mother to try and settle things, Jasper just cried...and cried... and cried... blaming everyone else but himself for his behavior. Trying to get him to see that he shouldn't retaliate was harder than pulling the baby teeth he kept outgrowing. At some point it was suggested he see some professional help, considering it only continued on thereafter. His mother didn't want to do that though. It felt too ... extreme? Maybe he would grow out of it? Hopefully?
As time went on, Jasper did manage to make a friend or two of those who were of like-mind in learning and shared a few interests. However, being a rather solitary child, he preferred the company of a good book over anyone and often curled up behind the front desk of the pokemon center after school reading while his mom worked. He saw his father rarely during this time, the man out and always working, though from a few people that came and went from the center who knew the man, Jasper got the general idea that he was a decent man if always busy. As if to try and connect with the man that was rarely at home or around in general, Jasper drew closer to medicine, often diving face first into the medical books that were left at home. Most of the words went over his head at the time, but the boy struggled to understand in some subtle hope he would catch a glint in his father's eye and a smile on the man's face for learning and aspiring to be like him. When he was ten years old, the young boy would be given a chance to receive a pokemon and travel, and after some thought, Jasper decided to go for it- though not to earn badges or contest ribbons. He wanted to see universities! Learn the science behind things! He wanted to be a traveling doctor! Of course his mother frowned upon it heavily, trying to keep him home and actually in school at the time. Some part of her had hoped he'd develop a love of nursing by chance and follow after her, though he turned out to be more like his father in the end. Oh well. With the promise that she'd see about getting him into some advanced science study classes while at home in their nice city and not in the barren wasteland they were still calling Hoenn, his mother wound her son's attention around her fingers and kept him there. He did, however, go to the lab and get his first pokemon- considering it was still something along the lines of a ten year old's rights or something something, he doesn't remember exactly now save for the fact that he got a rather spunky Torcic, nicknamed Nova, out of the deal who enjoyed lighting him on fire at first.
However, as time went on, things got worse, and Jasper found a lot of nights, there was no food to be had. He would be thirteen when Arceus made his appearance, and to say the boy was astounded at the time was an understatement. A part of him had never quite believed in the creator god until that moment, and in a surreal moment, he literally swore for the first time. His mother might have gotten upset at him if she hadn't been awestruck as well. It was shortly after that that his father returned home in a rush saying they were going through the portal no iffs ands or buts. Jasper briefly tried to argue but was shot down. Instead, he was told to pack what he could and leave what he couldn't. Choosing what to leave behind was one of the hardest tasks the thirteen year old had ever come by to date. Of course he'd take Nova along! But.. uhm... what else? His father, of course, was packing the medical books and then some, and after some thought, Jasper substituted some things that he probably should have brought with books too. Only a few days later, they fully moved to Mi-aro. It was only there that Jasper would realize just how much had been missing from his previous home. The vegetation was so green, the world so pristine, and at first he wanted to explore- only for his father to pull him back and put him to work helping build things and get the settlement started.
Though he had never experienced the world of architecture and building crafting, Jasper would find himself working along with his father, other men, Nova, and other pokemon too to build shelter. He complained a lot, got frustrated often, but was yelled at when he didn't do the work assigned to him and always ended up blowing up only to come back later and be forced to apologize. As time went on, he learned to keep his complaints to himself, do what was asked, and not argue as much. It certainly was a hell of a lot of work, but he grew and hey Nova even evolved and got actual arms to help more with. A year later, just as things really started to stabilize and he found himself settling in to a home, Jasper would learn his mother was three months pregnant. To say he was surprised was an understatement, considering at fourteen therein he wasn't expecting an addition to the family- not that he hadn't at one time wanted one, but yeah. He knew the whole birds and the bees thing by then and had enough medical knowledge from the books he read and the classes he took to know how this happened, and...just...uhm...ok then, Mom. Months later, a little Joanna Stone would come into the world screaming. Jasper would have his first viewing of a woman giving birth- considering he was asked to help, and promptly passed out afterwards. His dad thought it was hysterical. Jasper did not.
Considering he had never been an eldest sibling, Jasper tried his hardest to be good to the baby- even with the crying making him irritable and the mess of things he was now expected to do on top of his other house work. By then his father had started to move around more again taking care of the sick and doing what he could to aid people with his medical knowledge. In one form or another, Jasper began to feel the pressure to study more even away from schooling and what he had called home for years, as his father seemed to be aware of the lack of doctors in the area and wanted to ensure succession for the future. Outside of that, he began to work a local farm as he was expected to pull his weight ever more. To say he had more than enough to do was an understatement. It became a perpetual cycle of work, study, take care of / play with baby sister, try and sleep, repeat. In the next few years, another addition would be added to the family, Justine Stone. Now, while he loved his baby sisters, Jasper was starting to wonder what exactly his parents were even doing bringing more mouths to feed into the world, but out of respect, he kept it to himself for the most part and did his best to help out- and then they had Julia Stone and a year after that Jacob. Ok, they really needed to stop. This was four kids too many, and Jasper himself didn't have enough arms or hours in the day to deal with this situation. He accidentally verbally assaulted his mother with such a heavy criticism she broke down into tears one day, and shortly after that he ran all the way to the newer settlement thereafter. His father would eventually find him and nail him with guilt. Jasper went home later and apologized.
Jasper continued on. He struggled to study medicine, understand all that was pressed upon him, and work the land and at home. Thankfully Nova was by his side through it all, however, the Combusken willing to help out and do what he could as well. Both human and pokemon grew very close during this time, and they had a couple of laughs at the very least. As he grew into later teenhood, Jasper would eventually find himself crushing on the intellectual daughter of a researcher who had come to the farm he had been working at to study the crop rotations at the time. They shared some intellectual moments, and after a little, she invited him to come to the lab and help out. He'd certainly get paid better there, or so she assured him. Thereafter, he transitioned, finding that his medical knowledge was starting to become useful and less of a burden from time constraints. He enjoyed helping out, doing whatever was asked, and adding input where it was asked. He'd come to view the girl, Monica, as more than just a friend, but the idea of ruining a friendship in case things didn't work out was not something he wanted- plus he was too busy anyways.
The year he turned twenty-two, his mother would have yet another child- though the strain of it would take her life, much to the shock of both Jasper and Samuel who both tried everything to preserve it. Not even the baby would survive, only two hours later fading away for unknown reasons. Jasper utterly snapped. He might as well have screeched, transformed into a Aerodactyl and attacked for as much rage as Jasper felt towards his father, verbally cutting down the man, blaming him for his mother's death and the baby's and never letting up until thirty minutes later, he stormed out of the house in a flurry of anger and grief. He'd end up finding a nice alleyway of the city, sit down, and have himself a good solid cry. He'd never felt so frustrated, so at a loss for words, and so angry. If they had been at home in Hoenn, he was sure they would have had a hospital facility or something more could have been done! A part of him blamed his siblings, another part of him blamed his father, and some part of Jasper would blame himself. He hadn't been smart enough for the situation, hadn't been quick enough to do something else, to try something different that might have saved his mother's life. Some part of himself knew he was being unreasonable, that the circumstances had been bad and she had been older, but Jasper didn't quite care. It was still, somehow, his fault.
He'd end up going home eventually, and with what force he had, he'd take up the reigns of the household and run with it, balancing out work and family matters, assigning jobs and things to his younger siblings. He would be the adult of this situation! He continued to study, and do what he could, even stared to go outside of his father and those books seeking different remedies people might have had. He wanted to know everything, wanted to try different things. He wanted to learn as much as he could to be as useful as he could. He began traveling frequently between Port City and New Pallet, taking care to make sure his family was alright before he left of course. He grasped hold of whatever information he could find, and ran with it day and night. Even if they didn't have a university now for him to go to medical school, Jasper wanted to be a full fledged doctor. He wanted to be recognized for it, and by the time he was twenty-five, he was confident enough to consider himself one and actually began to practice more regularly on people. He pulled completely away from the lab he'd had on and off again affiliations with in order to pursue this career more fully. The step forwards was a thrill to be sure, but he did his best to be level headed on the situation. He never stopped learning, of course, but now he could go with confidence at his work, or so he assured himself.
Meanwhile, Nova was growing as well for he had to defend his trainer as the damned man seemed to walk into nearly every bad situation known to Arceus. He evolved yet again into a Blaziken during a rather terrible interaction with some feral pokemon as Jasper was on his way to New Pallet one day and managed to save the day for the most part. Jasper, however, walked away with quite a bit more damage than he had bargained for, having to stitch himself up least he bleed out. When he arrived at the town, he had to have the wounds restitched, as he kept accidentally opening them up with different movements, ugh it was such a mess. Jasper was shaken but wouldn't allow himself to stay down for long, instead continuing his doctoral duties even as he healed- which probably wasn't the wisest thing to do, but oh well.
Time went on, and as he found his siblings growing up, Jasper tried every which way to help them. However, there were always some situations he didn't have advice for, some circumstances that made him more confused than they were, and in general it was a lot of fumbling Stones. However, he did grow an appreciation of children when it was all said and done. They had such interesting minds, and creativity was always abound. However, there were times when they'd ask what happened to Mother, and he would find himself jutting off just a few words before being unable to speak. It seemed Nova knew how to answer better than he ever did, however, and considering their father was always busy doing something else when the situation called for it, Nova came through. However, as time trekked on, for reasons Jasper could never quite understand, Joanna, Justine, Julia, and Jacob seemed to keep setting him up with people. Apparently since he was doing all this work for them, supporting the family and still coming home and doing all these things, they had noted he had no real love in his life and wanted to fix that for him. While he continuously told them that it was unnecessary, that he'd find someone in time, those munchkins always seemed to somehow take measures into their own hands- which left a lot of awkward situations and hilarious-to-everyone-but-Jasper moments.
Ironically, they did manage to find one girl he actually liked, and they actually got engaged after a year and were engaged for another year before breaking it off, as both seemed to have various problems one of them being communication. Jasper shut down a little thereafter, finding it hard to not be mad at himself for not trying harder or something. However, it just ... didn't seem to be. He'd sigh and keep working, and shortly after that the kids- well they were teenagers now weren't they?, oh Arceus make time stop- stopped pushing him so much. He ebbed into his early thirties with still only medical prospects, having become more and more respectable as time went on. However, Jasper assured himself he was fine with that, fine with where he was. Around the time he hit thirty-five, Jasper noticed Nova was starting to wear down. The Blaziken had been in overdrive for so long defending his trainer from wild pokemon and the like as Jasper traveled, and it had aged him rapidly as it was. Jasper tried harder to stay in one city longer and did what he could to avoid battles. He even hired some mercenaries to start transporting him to and from the two, but it seemed something was still eating away at the Blaziken's strength. Eventually, Nova would pass away- a week before Jasper's thirty-seventh birthday.
He couldn't say he hadn't seen it coming, that was probably what made it worse in a way. Jasper was more than a little physically shaken by the death of his pokemon and closest friend. He pulled away from work and would hold up in his room for much of the day. His siblings worried, and even though his father worried, the men hadn't shared the same relationship since the fight years ago. It was... awkward, and both men had somewhere along the line silently agreed not to talk about anything related to death- or almost anything at all really. At times, he was pushed out of the house to go work, but even as he fixed up people, Jasper was more hollow than not. The fire, the spark in him, had gone out. Finally his siblings pushed for him to see a therapist-or-something-close-enough-to-it, and after finally accepting help, it was suggested that he pick up a new pokemon. That would help feel part of the gap, maybe?
Appearance: [Please trust the description more than the FC/image]
Standing six foot two inches and bearing a thin yet muscular frame, Jasper has clung to youth like the last leaf on the tree. As someone who had been told in his earlier years that he would be baby-faced and childlike forever, Jasper now preens at the fact that he has still maintained a sort of youthfulness appearance wise easily looking a decade younger than he truly is. His features are still for the most part tight, his jawline pronounced and angular, his nose being sharp and almost to a literal point. Even his ears which are indeed pierced seem to be more angular than they should be- though this may or may not be due to where the cartilage is pierced. High cheek bones only add to this sharpness, though to some people the sheer magnitude of it gives him the appearance not of youth but of flesh being strung out tightly across a disparaged skull.
What would have been a large forehead is for the most part hidden by steel silver hair that falls ungracefully around his head. This is his natural color and has been his natural color since birth. He jokingly remarks that he has been an old man since birth too. Despite what many could argue is a forever bed-head, Jasper does try to control his hair- it honestly just doesn't give a damn about him, though. He has tried brushing it, flat ironing it, and even using gel to control is natural waywardness, but there seems to be little that actually works on his thick blue-grey locks, and as time has progressed, Jasper has stopped bothering with expensive changes. Instead, he brushes it, makes sure it looks somewhere between decimated and halfway decent and goes on. As if in a residual fear that facial hair would be as unruly as that which sits atop his head, Jasper is clean shaven and makes it a point to shave frequently to where not even stubble graces his features. Honestly, stubble might actually round out some of his features appearance wise and give him less of a sharp appearance, but trying to convince Jasper to deal with it for appearance alone will earn a laugh and a sarcastic remark at best.
All this is not to say that age has not touched Jasper's features and body. On the contrary, on closer inspection, he does bear the weight of stress, anxiety, and a profuse lack of sleep. Generally, one will find him almost always looking tired, the proverbial and literal bags under his deep purple eyes underscoring a thirst for sleep that never quite seems to be quenched. If he were to shove up his messy bangs, Jasper would reveal noteworthy forehead wrinkles the most notable of which happen to be where his eyebrows meet. Hidden very often by clothes, Jasper is laden with scars and markings upon his pale skin. As someone who travels frequently between the two cities to be of service to anyone who needs him, he has dealt with the wild, and it shows. His hands are forever calloused bearing an unruly roughness though he does try and take care of his nails through filing, at the very least- when they're not bitten to the quick, of course. There is a noticeable scar across his right hand knuckles from a series of unfortunate events that will be explained later, but the largest and most notable scars are what sits across his pectorals going from right to left. Two large gash marks have since scarred over becoming a tad darker on his normally pale skin, and thankfully there in a space that's normally hidden, least he feel the compulsive urge to explain to everyone what happened each and every single time.
Everyday Clothes: In town, Jasper wears scrubs and a lab coat wherever he goes making sure to keep everything at least mostly clean but not fretting too much on a small stain. His scrubs come in every color of the rainbow- or at least every color he can get his hands on due to limited resources and the like, however, he does favor the color blue saying that it brings out the blueish tint to his hair more readily than other colors. Outside of town/when traveling, Jasper wears more loose fitting clothing- normally a simple t-shirt, jacket, and jeans simply because they are a bit hardier than other clothing. He enjoys wearing boots in both situations simply because they are sturdy and durable.
Formal Garbs: To be perfectly honest, Jasper has nothing formal and sees so very little reason to have formal clothing in a world that is trying to kill you in one form or another. He does have a nicer pair of slacks he sometimes wears, but expect scrubs and a lab coat even in more dressy situations.
Pack: This bag holds his medical equipment as well as anything else he feels the need to carry. He also has a second one in black.
Personality:
Jasper is a man whose personality can sometimes be synonymous with his chosen doctoral occupation. He is a doctor in the morning, noon, and at night. He's a doctor when making sure his siblings eat healthy and exorcise, and he's a doctor when he ensures other people are healthy and getting what they need. The man ascribes to raise the standard of living and has made it a point to put it into every single part of his day if at all possible. He treats patients that can pay as well as those that cannot, taking time out of his day to ensure someone is healthy and has everything they need to be healthy. In a way, he is altruistic, willing to do whatever it takes to ensure someone is in a position that Jasper feels comfortable leaving them in. In another way, he is someone who has a horrid problem with getting into other people's private lives and business for their sake. Honestly he may say the latter but really Jasper is just a nosy sort of person, often getting into things way over his head and accidentally rubbing people the wrong way in his 'pursuit of medicine' as he calls it. Honestly he is a decent guy, if a bit of a medical zealot with a problem of keeping things to himself.
Upon meeting him for the first time, one will note Jasper is a cool-headed carefully honest person, a man who takes time out of his hour, day, whatever to ensure he is understood more than anything. Whereas some doctors may gargle jargon down someone's throat, Jasper often drops his vocabulary down to that of the lay-body in order to make this possible. Of course as an intellect geared towards medicine, he does have a habit of feeling superior to others, considering he has a skill that is noteworthy and different from the farm work and general survival skills of the number of populace around him. However, if it is one thing he has also learned in his life up till then, it is that everyone struggles. There is always a job needing to be filled and a person needing to fill it. He would drop being a doctor for a while to work the fields or honestly any job that he deemed necessary for the group's survival. He is not so high and mighty as to believe he can simply be a doctor and nothing more, and he feels no problem with getting his hands dirty if it meant more mouths could be fed and more lives could be saved. He is a man who would put his work of people's health before his own, in fact, willing to do back breaking labor even.
As one can gather, Jasper is a man who tries to be dynamic, someone who can do a little bit of everything he can get his hands on but focusing more readily on medicine. Considering he has more or less raised his siblings alongside his less-than-always-there father, even though they could probably argue he was less-than-there too at times, Jasper has learned a number of house skills and can cook, clean, and do whatever with a basic but steady hand. It is probably the fluidity in which he moves that is Jasper's greatest strength, giving him an ease in his hands even under stressful situations such as when someone is bleeding or the like. Though he is far from a master of the trades of chores, he gets them done and pulls what weight there is to pull when he is home. That being said, Jasper does have a few perfectionist qualities that drive him to try and do things above par in general. If the dishes aren't scrubbed well, bacteria could populate and his siblings could become sick. If the house isn't clean, much the same thing could happen. If he doesn't travel frequently between the two settlements, he could miss a patient, and they could die. He works towards perfection in planning and honestly everything he can get his hands on to say the least. However, that does not mean he's going to break down if something isn't perfect. As someone who has learned to deal with a situation rather than gripe about the past or what could have been done to prevent X, Y, Z event from happening, Jasper does his best to move forwards in all situations.
Jasper was and still is a studious person, someone who makes it a point to read and learn a new thing every day if he can. Medicine, especially now, is a field that never stops growing, and he doesn't want to stop growing least it get too far ahead of him. However, he not only makes it a point to learn more, but he does make it a point to think more in general. He is thoughtful and reflective in most matters, tending to over think a situation when left to himself, yet his brain has literally been in over drive for years now, and slowing it down is not an easy task and leaves him with a distilled feeling of loss. He likes to consider all angles, find holes in the box, and think out of the box, and in order to do this, he reads extensively, thinks progressively, and tends to be off in his own little world. People have noted before when talking to when he's in one of those reflective moods that he seems distant, his thoughts elsewhere most of the time, and his responses to things not quite up to par. Common small talk or even just personable questions are often replied to with an 'uh-huh' and maybe even a 'what did you say?' if he's interested in you as a person.
Under professional social conditions, Jasper is a calm well mannered extremely respectful individual. He will address even some teenagers as 'sir' or 'ma'am' unless outwardly told not to, and to those he doesn't, he very often uses their surnames rather than first names. While not a fan of small talk, he does not appear to mind listening to anything anyone has to say paying close attention to the information that is stated, the words that were used, and the physical body language which is offered. If asked for opinions, he'll often respond with what he deems appropriate, normally a curt if clear statement of encouragement or discouragement depending on the situation. However, he isn't someone that would hesitate to actually give advise if prompted to do so. He wants to be helpful and of use to others, after all, and again his brain goes into overdrive at times trying to come up with what to say in a situation.
However that being said, whereas Celebi is a Time Lord, Jasper is a Lord of Sarcasm. Unintentionally he can come off as very very rude, especially in situations that require extra care. He tries so desperately to moderate this, but considering it is a stem off of his younger years that he hasn't been able to cut back with the fear of stunting the tree, he's allowed it to grow unruly. He has a 'my way or the high--uhm...street? Mountain? Something long and treacherous, yeah that' mentality, and people that don't listen to him, that don't follow what advise he gives medically or otherwise, he can come off as snippy towards at best. Yes he wants people to succeed, yes he cares for others, but humans have the uncanny ability to also drive him up a wall, and in retaliation, Jasper allows snide condescending remarks to slip in at times. Again he does try very hard to moderate this, keeping some of his more harsh thoughts to himself and out of the public eye- especially when they *cough* aren't completely just about people ignoring what he has to say either
Jasper just needs the right lure in order to get this fish to bite and talk your ear off. What he relishes more than anything is intellectual conversation, something more than personal experiences or likes and dislikes, he enjoys the transaction of ideas and information. Science has been and still is the very love of his life when he's honest with himself, and hearing any information on any subject that even remotely concerns it will cause this normally monotone distant man to spark with life and interest. Many are off put by the one hundred eighty degree turn in which he turns from, but Jasper himself does not even notice the transition. Science is life; science is everything. He relishes medicine, the aspect of science with which he has devoted his life to, and whereas some would enjoy talking about fashion, hard work, what have you, Jasper likes talking about anatomy, physiology, and gore. Even if he isn't prompted to do so, he has a habit of reminiscing certain medical procedures that others may find ... queasy or vomit worthy. He does try and keep the more disturbing topics off the table especially when children are around, considering he wouldn't readily tell his baby siblings (he doesn't care if they're teenagers now or even in their twenties *tear* they will forever be small children to him) such things, but if prompted, he does enjoy a good go around with the phantasm that is science.
For many and for Jasper included, most would rather him simply do his job rather than stop to chit chat. He is a very intelligent, highly capable doctor, and as one known to keep a cool head and fluid hands even under very stressful situations, he is useful to others. By nature Jasper thinks quickly, making associations, observations, and deductions through what logic he has come to have via his exposure to medicine books and other information over the years, and he shifts through possible actions with which to take before taking one and running with it. He is not someone that readily stalls, uncertain about what to do in a medical situation, and for this reason, he can react efficiently. Materialistic possessions mean little to Jasper though they are useful especially in the medical department. Due to growing up with limited resources, Jasper has learned how to make do with what he has, always wishing there was more but never stopping to day dream about it. His aim is to save lives, not dillydally on what could have been.
Likes:
- Intelligent Conversation- Above all else, Jasper likes intelligent conversation. He relishes talking about just about any form of higher thought whether it be medically inclined or philosophically. He doesn't mind being argued with or even proven wrong so long as someone has added something of interest to the conversation whatever it may be. That being said, small talk, gossip, and in general regular conversation make him exceptionally awkward. He literally has no idea how to go about speaking with others about such matters and tends to say only a few words at any given interval often half-heartedly mumbling when he's already uncomfortable in a situation
- Respectful Individuals- Those that have the decency to respect others whether their opinion varies, they stand in different socioeconomic grounds, or what have you are people Jasper deeply respects. Truthfully he tries desperately to be respectful to others, though his invasive sarcasm has made him rather biting over the years much to his own irritation. Ever still, he tries to show as much respect for another person as he can muster in a situation and enjoys when people express this as well.
- Medical Information- There is so much to learn, and with a whole new world to discover with new vegetation and the like, a dazzling door of medical information has been opened just waiting for someone to sift through the boundless areas of study. Anything and everything could lead to a medical break through to cure someone of something, and honestly it makes Jasper's eyes sparkle with a childish excitement at the very thought of it.
- Displays of Loyalty- Jasper did not have many friends growing up, but of those friends, he found a deep rooted loyalty that he has come to adore in others. Displays of loyalty whether it be at the cost of oneself or one's desires make Jasper not only happy but interested. Though he never got a chance to study the psychology of such altruistic maneuvers such as this deep rooted loyalty to what have you, they drum a special chord in his heart.
- Challenging Situations- Jasper does not like to be bored nor does he know what to really do with himself when bored. He prefers situations that challenge him, make him think and grow even at his age, because to him, there is never a stage in which someone has reached their limit.
- Children and Baby Pokemon- Jasper has never been married nor has he ever had children, yet the thought of being a father whether it be in a figurative or literal way to younglings makes him smile. He enjoys passing on information to those who wish to learn and enjoys watching others grow and develop. Children in general earn a tenderness from Jasper that is not as readily seen with adults.
- Gems and Stones- Though they have rarely been his primary focus in life, Jasper likes things that sparkle. This may or may not have been due to some of his family's interests before the rather rapid shift to the new planet, but he does like them.
- Caffeine- Wherever he can get it, whenever he can get it, however he can get it, Jasper adores caffeine and might have been labeled as an addict at some point in time. It makes him alert, keeps him going, and without a cup of coffee in the morning, he could easily turn a 180 from his normal self.
- Stability- Mostly in the form of government stability, Jasper finds it is the only way for people to move forwards. There has to be some sort of willingness to work together in order to complete a task, and without that, things can and probably will fall to pieces.
Dislikes:
- Disease- As a doctor, it is Jasper's job to ensure diseases are dealt with, but that certainly doesn't mean he likes them. He honestly hates watching people suffer from them- especially when all he can tell them is that "it's viral" and that they must wait however long for their own immune systems to clear it up. Arceus he wishes Penicillin just worked on everything.
- Ignorance- Whoever said ignorance is bliss should be punched in the face. Honestly.
- Unnecessary Violence- Well, honestly the ignorant person being punched in the face is very necessary! Maybe they would then stop and reconsider life, the universe, and everything. It would be better for everyone! Ok, maybe not, and maybe he just has a temper towards the ignorant and maybe he has a tendency to justify certain acts of violence, but no one needs to nit pick him. That doesn't mean for one second that he would actually hit anyone! Now that would be counter productive to his cause, after all- even if he feels people deserve it. Ok, he's going to stop thinking about this now. He knows what he means.
- Nitpicky Individuals- You thought he was joking on the not nitpicking him part- well honestly anyone who is going to be nitpicky when they're all trying to survive needs to get out of their comfort zone and experience just how harsh the world is. He might be trying to lower his own nit picking habits, and he might just have a natural self-loathing on the subject as well.
- Impracticality- Everything should have a purpose especially in this world. Impracticality in any form or fashion is utterly ridiculous.
- Public Displays of Affection- They make him extremely uncomfortable, even if he happens to be the one watching it.
- Suffering On Part of Others- Jasper hate needless suffering whether it be in the form of hunger, disease, or physical trauma, and he does what he can to mitigate it.
- Lies and Liars- This sprung more from those who would conceal the truth of where they got their injuries, or where they possibly got sick rather than all lies and liars. If it's disrupting his job and a person's health then it's utterly ridiculous. In general, those that would outright lie about other things- and if he happens to find out about it- Jasper would raise an eyebrow and maybe mentally criticize, but considering everyone is human, everyone makes some mistakes.
- His Allergies- They're just a lovely bunch of coconuts he wants to smash into a billion little pieces. He doesn't remember having allergies until coming here.
- Smoking- It is the worst thing you can do for your health! There are so many diseases associated with smoking that Jasper can't even begin to tell you all of them unless you want to sit here for the next few hours.
Backstory:
Despite its humble beginnings, the Devon Corporation of Hoenn had expanded years and years ago, and as time went on, the Stone family who primarily owned it expanded as well eventually encompassing a number of branches to which one Samuel Stone would develop from. Rather than delve into the family merchandise and poketech research business, he aspired to be a doctor- considering even during his generation, he was becoming aware of Hoenn's developing illnesses in part due to the malnutrition from depleted resources. As a man whose hard head determined nature matched his estranged love of science, he did well in medical school, and financing himself off the family money, he went about doing what he could for the populace of Hoenn. Well this one-man-medical-army could only do so much as one would expect, and with things growing progressively worse, he began to question his calling. He'd find solace in a rather personable Nurse Joy, Jenna, who assured him that he was doing good- and after an awkward amount of flirting, they ended up dating and even marrying- yay for awkward unexpected love?
Not quite when both were made aware of a baby on the way. By then, inflation due to lack of resources had thrown the family money off Mt. Chimney, and with more and more people unable to pay even the smallest of medical expenses, Samuel found himself dipping into pockets where there was no money at the bottom. He struggled to make ends meet, put food on the table, and supply two other mouths in time. It didn't help that the baby, affectionately named Jasper or "Jasp" as his mother sometimes referred to him, grew rather rapidly and was food vacuum if one ever existed. Jasper, of course, was oblivious to this during his early years. His earliest memories would be of his mother's pokemon center wherein he was sometimes encouraged to "help" people by playing with people's pokemon- yeah. When he grew into the years of instruction, he was put into school. Whereas some struggled in school balancing the classes and learning the material, it was rather easy for Jasper. His capacity to retain information proved not only to be his strongest quality but his best. Of course this came with the price of being labeled the teacher's pet and a know-it-all early on, but what was worse was that in retaliation, Jasper sprouted a heavy temper early on. He had an unruly knack for verbally cutting down his peers with ridicule and venom, and when the principal called his mother to try and settle things, Jasper just cried...and cried... and cried... blaming everyone else but himself for his behavior. Trying to get him to see that he shouldn't retaliate was harder than pulling the baby teeth he kept outgrowing. At some point it was suggested he see some professional help, considering it only continued on thereafter. His mother didn't want to do that though. It felt too ... extreme? Maybe he would grow out of it? Hopefully?
As time went on, Jasper did manage to make a friend or two of those who were of like-mind in learning and shared a few interests. However, being a rather solitary child, he preferred the company of a good book over anyone and often curled up behind the front desk of the pokemon center after school reading while his mom worked. He saw his father rarely during this time, the man out and always working, though from a few people that came and went from the center who knew the man, Jasper got the general idea that he was a decent man if always busy. As if to try and connect with the man that was rarely at home or around in general, Jasper drew closer to medicine, often diving face first into the medical books that were left at home. Most of the words went over his head at the time, but the boy struggled to understand in some subtle hope he would catch a glint in his father's eye and a smile on the man's face for learning and aspiring to be like him. When he was ten years old, the young boy would be given a chance to receive a pokemon and travel, and after some thought, Jasper decided to go for it- though not to earn badges or contest ribbons. He wanted to see universities! Learn the science behind things! He wanted to be a traveling doctor! Of course his mother frowned upon it heavily, trying to keep him home and actually in school at the time. Some part of her had hoped he'd develop a love of nursing by chance and follow after her, though he turned out to be more like his father in the end. Oh well. With the promise that she'd see about getting him into some advanced science study classes while at home in their nice city and not in the barren wasteland they were still calling Hoenn, his mother wound her son's attention around her fingers and kept him there. He did, however, go to the lab and get his first pokemon- considering it was still something along the lines of a ten year old's rights or something something, he doesn't remember exactly now save for the fact that he got a rather spunky Torcic, nicknamed Nova, out of the deal who enjoyed lighting him on fire at first.
However, as time went on, things got worse, and Jasper found a lot of nights, there was no food to be had. He would be thirteen when Arceus made his appearance, and to say the boy was astounded at the time was an understatement. A part of him had never quite believed in the creator god until that moment, and in a surreal moment, he literally swore for the first time. His mother might have gotten upset at him if she hadn't been awestruck as well. It was shortly after that that his father returned home in a rush saying they were going through the portal no iffs ands or buts. Jasper briefly tried to argue but was shot down. Instead, he was told to pack what he could and leave what he couldn't. Choosing what to leave behind was one of the hardest tasks the thirteen year old had ever come by to date. Of course he'd take Nova along! But.. uhm... what else? His father, of course, was packing the medical books and then some, and after some thought, Jasper substituted some things that he probably should have brought with books too. Only a few days later, they fully moved to Mi-aro. It was only there that Jasper would realize just how much had been missing from his previous home. The vegetation was so green, the world so pristine, and at first he wanted to explore- only for his father to pull him back and put him to work helping build things and get the settlement started.
Though he had never experienced the world of architecture and building crafting, Jasper would find himself working along with his father, other men, Nova, and other pokemon too to build shelter. He complained a lot, got frustrated often, but was yelled at when he didn't do the work assigned to him and always ended up blowing up only to come back later and be forced to apologize. As time went on, he learned to keep his complaints to himself, do what was asked, and not argue as much. It certainly was a hell of a lot of work, but he grew and hey Nova even evolved and got actual arms to help more with. A year later, just as things really started to stabilize and he found himself settling in to a home, Jasper would learn his mother was three months pregnant. To say he was surprised was an understatement, considering at fourteen therein he wasn't expecting an addition to the family- not that he hadn't at one time wanted one, but yeah. He knew the whole birds and the bees thing by then and had enough medical knowledge from the books he read and the classes he took to know how this happened, and...just...uhm...ok then, Mom. Months later, a little Joanna Stone would come into the world screaming. Jasper would have his first viewing of a woman giving birth- considering he was asked to help, and promptly passed out afterwards. His dad thought it was hysterical. Jasper did not.
Considering he had never been an eldest sibling, Jasper tried his hardest to be good to the baby- even with the crying making him irritable and the mess of things he was now expected to do on top of his other house work. By then his father had started to move around more again taking care of the sick and doing what he could to aid people with his medical knowledge. In one form or another, Jasper began to feel the pressure to study more even away from schooling and what he had called home for years, as his father seemed to be aware of the lack of doctors in the area and wanted to ensure succession for the future. Outside of that, he began to work a local farm as he was expected to pull his weight ever more. To say he had more than enough to do was an understatement. It became a perpetual cycle of work, study, take care of / play with baby sister, try and sleep, repeat. In the next few years, another addition would be added to the family, Justine Stone. Now, while he loved his baby sisters, Jasper was starting to wonder what exactly his parents were even doing bringing more mouths to feed into the world, but out of respect, he kept it to himself for the most part and did his best to help out- and then they had Julia Stone and a year after that Jacob. Ok, they really needed to stop. This was four kids too many, and Jasper himself didn't have enough arms or hours in the day to deal with this situation. He accidentally verbally assaulted his mother with such a heavy criticism she broke down into tears one day, and shortly after that he ran all the way to the newer settlement thereafter. His father would eventually find him and nail him with guilt. Jasper went home later and apologized.
Jasper continued on. He struggled to study medicine, understand all that was pressed upon him, and work the land and at home. Thankfully Nova was by his side through it all, however, the Combusken willing to help out and do what he could as well. Both human and pokemon grew very close during this time, and they had a couple of laughs at the very least. As he grew into later teenhood, Jasper would eventually find himself crushing on the intellectual daughter of a researcher who had come to the farm he had been working at to study the crop rotations at the time. They shared some intellectual moments, and after a little, she invited him to come to the lab and help out. He'd certainly get paid better there, or so she assured him. Thereafter, he transitioned, finding that his medical knowledge was starting to become useful and less of a burden from time constraints. He enjoyed helping out, doing whatever was asked, and adding input where it was asked. He'd come to view the girl, Monica, as more than just a friend, but the idea of ruining a friendship in case things didn't work out was not something he wanted- plus he was too busy anyways.
The year he turned twenty-two, his mother would have yet another child- though the strain of it would take her life, much to the shock of both Jasper and Samuel who both tried everything to preserve it. Not even the baby would survive, only two hours later fading away for unknown reasons. Jasper utterly snapped. He might as well have screeched, transformed into a Aerodactyl and attacked for as much rage as Jasper felt towards his father, verbally cutting down the man, blaming him for his mother's death and the baby's and never letting up until thirty minutes later, he stormed out of the house in a flurry of anger and grief. He'd end up finding a nice alleyway of the city, sit down, and have himself a good solid cry. He'd never felt so frustrated, so at a loss for words, and so angry. If they had been at home in Hoenn, he was sure they would have had a hospital facility or something more could have been done! A part of him blamed his siblings, another part of him blamed his father, and some part of Jasper would blame himself. He hadn't been smart enough for the situation, hadn't been quick enough to do something else, to try something different that might have saved his mother's life. Some part of himself knew he was being unreasonable, that the circumstances had been bad and she had been older, but Jasper didn't quite care. It was still, somehow, his fault.
He'd end up going home eventually, and with what force he had, he'd take up the reigns of the household and run with it, balancing out work and family matters, assigning jobs and things to his younger siblings. He would be the adult of this situation! He continued to study, and do what he could, even stared to go outside of his father and those books seeking different remedies people might have had. He wanted to know everything, wanted to try different things. He wanted to learn as much as he could to be as useful as he could. He began traveling frequently between Port City and New Pallet, taking care to make sure his family was alright before he left of course. He grasped hold of whatever information he could find, and ran with it day and night. Even if they didn't have a university now for him to go to medical school, Jasper wanted to be a full fledged doctor. He wanted to be recognized for it, and by the time he was twenty-five, he was confident enough to consider himself one and actually began to practice more regularly on people. He pulled completely away from the lab he'd had on and off again affiliations with in order to pursue this career more fully. The step forwards was a thrill to be sure, but he did his best to be level headed on the situation. He never stopped learning, of course, but now he could go with confidence at his work, or so he assured himself.
Meanwhile, Nova was growing as well for he had to defend his trainer as the damned man seemed to walk into nearly every bad situation known to Arceus. He evolved yet again into a Blaziken during a rather terrible interaction with some feral pokemon as Jasper was on his way to New Pallet one day and managed to save the day for the most part. Jasper, however, walked away with quite a bit more damage than he had bargained for, having to stitch himself up least he bleed out. When he arrived at the town, he had to have the wounds restitched, as he kept accidentally opening them up with different movements, ugh it was such a mess. Jasper was shaken but wouldn't allow himself to stay down for long, instead continuing his doctoral duties even as he healed- which probably wasn't the wisest thing to do, but oh well.
Time went on, and as he found his siblings growing up, Jasper tried every which way to help them. However, there were always some situations he didn't have advice for, some circumstances that made him more confused than they were, and in general it was a lot of fumbling Stones. However, he did grow an appreciation of children when it was all said and done. They had such interesting minds, and creativity was always abound. However, there were times when they'd ask what happened to Mother, and he would find himself jutting off just a few words before being unable to speak. It seemed Nova knew how to answer better than he ever did, however, and considering their father was always busy doing something else when the situation called for it, Nova came through. However, as time trekked on, for reasons Jasper could never quite understand, Joanna, Justine, Julia, and Jacob seemed to keep setting him up with people. Apparently since he was doing all this work for them, supporting the family and still coming home and doing all these things, they had noted he had no real love in his life and wanted to fix that for him. While he continuously told them that it was unnecessary, that he'd find someone in time, those munchkins always seemed to somehow take measures into their own hands- which left a lot of awkward situations and hilarious-to-everyone-but-Jasper moments.
Ironically, they did manage to find one girl he actually liked, and they actually got engaged after a year and were engaged for another year before breaking it off, as both seemed to have various problems one of them being communication. Jasper shut down a little thereafter, finding it hard to not be mad at himself for not trying harder or something. However, it just ... didn't seem to be. He'd sigh and keep working, and shortly after that the kids- well they were teenagers now weren't they?, oh Arceus make time stop- stopped pushing him so much. He ebbed into his early thirties with still only medical prospects, having become more and more respectable as time went on. However, Jasper assured himself he was fine with that, fine with where he was. Around the time he hit thirty-five, Jasper noticed Nova was starting to wear down. The Blaziken had been in overdrive for so long defending his trainer from wild pokemon and the like as Jasper traveled, and it had aged him rapidly as it was. Jasper tried harder to stay in one city longer and did what he could to avoid battles. He even hired some mercenaries to start transporting him to and from the two, but it seemed something was still eating away at the Blaziken's strength. Eventually, Nova would pass away- a week before Jasper's thirty-seventh birthday.
He couldn't say he hadn't seen it coming, that was probably what made it worse in a way. Jasper was more than a little physically shaken by the death of his pokemon and closest friend. He pulled away from work and would hold up in his room for much of the day. His siblings worried, and even though his father worried, the men hadn't shared the same relationship since the fight years ago. It was... awkward, and both men had somewhere along the line silently agreed not to talk about anything related to death- or almost anything at all really. At times, he was pushed out of the house to go work, but even as he fixed up people, Jasper was more hollow than not. The fire, the spark in him, had gone out. Finally his siblings pushed for him to see a therapist-or-something-close-enough-to-it, and after finally accepting help, it was suggested that he pick up a new pokemon. That would help feel part of the gap, maybe?
