Clay, The Ground Specialist

Clay is the Mineral Gym Leader of Yonda. He dreams of someday challenging the Elite Four and even becoming Champion.

Over top of a medium gray undershirt, Clay wears a light grey, short sleeved jacket. This jacket has a cobalt blue stripe running from the shoulder down to the hem on the right side. This jacket also has a black stripe about two inches thick running along the hem. The collar is also black. He also wears light grey grey cargo pants and boots that match the color of his undershirt with blue details.

Background
Just about the first thing I remember is learning to throw a pokeball with my mentor...

I was born on Mossdeep Island. My father was an astronaut and my mother worked as a technician in the launch building. They loved space. However, their passion never rubbed off on me. I've always been scared of flying. I prefer to stay on the ground. My house was next to Steven Stone's. You know, past champion, stepped down, replaced by Wallace? Well, anyway, Hoenn's (that's the region Mossdeep is in) research lab is waaaaay on the other side of the region. As you probably know, that's where a rookie receives his starter pokemon. My parents aren't trainers, so we had no way to go that far safely. So Mr. Stone agreed to train me and help me catch my first pokemon.

He wasn't always there. Often times, he'd take a trip to the far reaches of Hoenn to look for rare stones. During the time he was training me, however, he'd never leave the region, so he'd never be gone for long. I remember standing on the edge of the island, scanning the horizon, waiting for him to come back. My sessions with him are among my fondest memories. We always had so much fun. Mr. Stone tried to make everything fun, and he succeeded. I remember when I was learning the type advantages, we'd throw water and leaves and mud at each other, pretending to be different pokemon.

The day I met my first wild was a day like any other. Mr. Stone was away looking for stones, pursuing his passion, so there was no training that day. I went down to the mangroves to eat my lunch, like I did every day before. I was sitting on a rock in the muddy water munching on a sandwich when I saw a blue fin peek out from the roots. It quickly disappeared, so I disregarded it as my own imagination. I caught another glimpse of it, this time closer to me. I froze, but I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary after a few minutes of staring. So I went back to my sandwich. I heard a grumbling noise, like a starving munchlax about to ruin someone's picnic. "That's not me..." grumble "Who is it? Is anyone there?" grumble I saw a mudkip peek out from the roots nearest to me. "Aaahh!" splash It scared me so bad that I fell over backwards off my rock, into the mud and just under the water (About half a foot deep).

"Kip?" The mudkip cocked her head and looked at me. Then I saw a smile spread across her face. "Mud! Kipkipkip." She sounded like she was laughing.

"Hey! What are you laughing at?" I remarked, dripping as I lifted myself out of the water.

grumble "Kip?"

"Oh, so you were what was making that noise! You must be hungry! That grumble reminds me of the shuttle launching!"

"Kipkipkip!"

"Here, lemme get you something." I looked in my bag. Only one sandwich left. grumble Then I heard another stomach growl; my own. The mudkip cocked her head. "Here, we'll split it." I said, tearing the sandwich in half. She practically launched herself at my hand as I gave her the sandwich. It was gone before I could blink. grumble I looked at my half of the sandwich. "Here... Have this piece too..." I had barely finished my sentence before it disappeared. "I- I'll go get some more..." I returned to my house and made more sandwiches, but when I came back to the rock, the mudkip was gone.

The next day, Mr. Stone came back. "Mr. Stone! Guess what! Guess what I did while you were gone!"

He chuckled. "I dunno? What?"

"I met my first wild!" His jaw dropped. "I was eating lunch, down by the mangroves, and she came up to me and I gave her my sandwich."

"You- WHAT?! You met a wild?! You're lucky it didn't attack you! Encountering wilds without pokemon of your own is dangerous, haven't I told you?"

"Mudkip's a she. And she would never attack me. I remembered what you told me though, and I was scared at first, but she seemed friendly, so I relaxed."

"Wait- the pokemon was a MUDKIP?! Those are very rare; they're endangered in the wild. They're mostly seen only in the care of breeders. And you said you found a WILD one?!"

"Well, yeah... I mean..."

"Well, I'm glad you found a friend. Let me know if you see her again." He told me with a smile. ''I need to keep a closer eye on him. When he told me he met a wild it nearly gave me a heart attack...'' Mr. Stone thought to himself (or at least, that's what I assume he was thinking).

A couple days passed, then weeks, then months. I continued my training, but every lunch, I would go down to the same rock, hoping to see her again. I always packed triple-extra sandwiches, just in case. She would come now and again, and as time went by, she frequented more and more often. Eventually, some time after I had turned 12 years old, I was ready. Ready to start my journey.

"Mr. Stone?"

"Mhm?"

"I'm ready to catch my first pokemon."

"I've been expecting you to tell me that for a while now. Even so, those words still come as a shock. Alright, I'll let you borrow one of my beldum. And here, take these pokeballs. Okay then, you lead the way!"

"Thanks!" I said, accepting the pokeballs, one with beldum inside. I walked out the door and towards the shore (If you could even call it that, it was more like a marsh). I was certain Mr. Stone knew exactly the pokemon I wanted. I found my way to that same rock that I always went to. I reached in my pocket and pulled out a sandwich. Lettuce with light mayonnaise on rye bread, mudkip's favorite. We waited there for what seemed like hours, Mr. Stone and I. For all the time we waited, he never complained. He just stood there silently, waiting for the same thing I was. Whenever I glanced in his direction, he smiled and nodded encouragingly.

After a while, I heard her happy kip! Our waiting was finally over. I fed her the sandwich and reached into my pocket to grab beldum's pokeball. Before I could get a grip on it, though, the mudkip jumped right into my arms as if she new I was leaving. She looked up at me, seeming to say I'm going with you. She knew I was leaving and wanted to stay by my side. It's funny, the way pokemon know things like that. "I think I'll call you... hm... Maybe I should wait to name you until I know you better. For now, I'll just call you Mudkip."

"Well," Mr. Stone said with a laugh. "Seems you don't need to catch her after all!"

I laughed with him and Mudkip let out a happy kip!

"You should assign her a pokeball though, both for her saftey and so that the League will recognize you as her trainer."

I took his advice and pulled out an empty ball. I set Mudkip down. "Ready?" Mudkip nodded, a determined look on her face. "Alright then, here goes!" I threw the pokeball. It opened mid-air and sucked her in. It didn't wobble. I started to get nervous. Is she okay? I thought to myself.

"Don't worry." Mr. Stone told me, clapping me on the shoulder. "It's not wobbling because she's not struggling."

It clicked. I relaxed.

The ball opened, and Mudkip sprung out, happy and cheerful. Seems like the inside of a pokeball's pretty comfortable.

"I'm surprised," Mr. Stone remarked. "That's not usual for pokemon to free themselves of their own accord. Usually, they're reluctant to leave the comfort of their pokeball for any reason other than being sent out intentionally by their trainer. Seems that Mudkip's pretty attached to you."

Known Pokemon
Swampert

Clay's first pokemon. She was not received as a starter, but having already made friends with Clay as a wild, she joined him voluntarily. He doesn't often use her in battles, but when he does, her power on the field is unrivaled. She is often seen with Clay like a pet.

Attack: 5

Defense: 0

Speed: 7

Tyranitar

Teph the Tyranitar is dependable and adamant. Though he's usually kind, he is prone to let his emotions get the better of him; when angered, he doesn't hold back. Teph is one of Clay's main two pokemon. Usually used in gym battles, he sees the use on the field quite a lot. He's often seen with Anne outside of battles.

Attack: 5

Defense: 4

Speed: 0

Aggron

Anne the Aggron is a really sweet, gentle pokemon, despite her outward appearance. Anne is of Clay's main two pokemon. Usually used in gym battles, she sees the use on the field quite a lot. She's often seen with Teph outside of battles.

Attack: 4

Defense: 5

Speed: 0