More on Eric Kingler and the league. (This is super long and I’m sorry i can’t put a read more since I have no computer)
Unlike his League who mostly have separated teams for their gyms and personal use, his team is used for both!
His starter is a shiny Eevee, named Miku and the only named Pokémon on his team, followed closely by his Goodra. Both being seen as his starter since he caught Goodra as a Goomy the same day he got Miku. His home town is Sherdee and the forest, Bikwood, is where he also captured his Dreepy which is now a Dragapult. The rest of his team is Blissey, his Grandma’s starter his Aunt gave him after winning the Champion title and also replaced his Braviary who quickly died of Pokémon specific cancer, Sawsbuck and Drampa.
Eric Kingler team: Miku (Gigantamax/Eevium Z), Goodra, Dragapult (Dynamax), Blissey, Sawsbuck, Drampa (Dynamax/Dragon Zcrystal)
Unlike most league members who have the option to Dynamax and or use different zcrystals with different Pokémon but don’t, Eric regularly trades out who does what on his team. Though he does tend to lean towards Miku but has the advantage on non-verbal signals during fights, Vincent taught him that, Eric is actively trying to catch himself and change that.
Sherdee is placed more in the lush side of Mount Vince, though not as close to the base of said mountain like Snow Cap who circle completely around the mountain in a very weird circle shaped town with parts. Winery’s, farmland, and general green rolling hills cover most of Sherdee’s north side while the south side is more population dense. East side is more lush wood dense, think more of Cali’s red oaks then anything, where most of the dark and poison typing mingle. The west side, towards New Loc, is a thinner more wet type of bog land where water and grass thrive. This is where Kalos is receiving most of the helping Pokémon through the trade.
Despite the extremely popular wineries and being the Champions home town, Sherdee is not that populated like New Loc or even Benene on the other side of the mountain. Filled with drillers and generally older people. The west side of Mount. Vince is just generally where older people move to go retire and live. The lush shady and green land is much more gentle then the harsh dry lands of the east side. Salond is the only town thats mostly filled of young adults and trainers. And having the second and last gym on the League docket especially helps.
Though Jackson is usually found in Lily’s gym, to the point it’s basically his gym mission to come drag him from his friends gym back to his, and prefers the quiet Sherdee brings. It’s also where he mostly gets his dispensed weed and other things of that nature. The poison gym is based around the more populated zone of Sherdee, south east to be exact where the majority of poison and dark type live. Vincent Ghoul, heavily named after the mountain, is the dark gym leader and also a pretty sick dude and his gym is based in the north west despite a lot of dark types don’t naturally live there. Despite his only communication being signing since he’s selectively mute, which Jackson lords over everyone else because he’s the only one that can keep up with Vincent, he’s a very social person. A big contrast against other dark type trainers who are cut off and cold.
He’s Eric and Jackson’s collective second rival and met them at the second gym, the electric one, in Soland. The gym leader, General Chad Manley, was screaming directly in Vincent’s face. Jackson was the first to move to confront the retired General but it was Eric who silently beat down the man in a one on one battle with his personal Toxtricity (Amped Form) with Miku. The issue clearly came to the light when Chad refused to give Eric and Vincent the Shock Badge on the fact that he refused to believe they both fairly beaten the man. Making them call in the nearest Officer Jenny who had to inform the league, it took half a month of precious time and a very public event of one of the chairmen threatening to terminate the general to get their badge. Jackson actually got his as a consolation for waiting and unable to battle. Making him feel he was inferior to Vincent and Eric and making their three way rivalry very wobbly with the other two trying their best to restore faith in their friend.
He makes it his mission to somehow becomes Chad’s boss in some way and now he’s sitting as the strongest gym leader of Orago and Chad’s boss. Despite also being the forth strongest gym, Vincent is very much on par with both Jackson and Eric. Having grown with the boys he just chooses to stay where he’s at. Because it didn’t matter if he was the forth weakest or the second strongest, he would still be placed in Sherdee, and being the forth gym means he gets to meet a lot more trainers. Vincent is also one of the only gym leaders to rarely use his Zoroark, his very beloved starter, in official battles. Opting to keep her out most of the time unless a really strong trainer comes through.
Unlike Galar, and now recently Alola, Orago does have an Elite section. Though its not an Elite four but an Elite three. It’s taking into account that instead of eight gyms there’s nine in the region. It’s a debate that Eric and Jackson have constantly as well. Jackson doesn’t want to become an Elite four for many reasons, the main one being that if he’s moved to the same building the other three and Eric are constantly at Jackson cannot give Eric a safe place to come and hide in when things get to much for the stoic man along with the ability of his gym being a bunker if the two Team’s gain serious ground against Eric. The second one being that he’d have a shit ton more paperwork and thats not flying by him at all. Eric’s side is that they can spend more time together, it’s unspoken between the pair but Jackson can easily tell the mans non-verbal point, and Jackson doesn’t have to switch teams which he hates doing.
It doesn’t cause any stress on the League as a whole but it can get annoying for out-of-Region trainers who travel to take part who naturally assume there’s just eight and the badge holder just has an extra slot just in case. Only to go and sign up only to realize there’s an extra gym that they miss and now can’t participate in the last conference, which is mockingly called the Wine Conference from how much Eric and the head Chairwomen drink just to stay on the line of sanity.
Lily comes in much later, once Eric works Jackson into the bug Gym and Vincent into the dark gym, she comes takes over the poison gym. Unlike older and more traditional Regions like Kanto and Hoenn who usually give their position to the next of kin, Orago has a rule that you strictly cannot do that in any sense. Also that gym ladder positions will change constantly, like each gym is in a different spot almost every year, the only constant ones are Vincent, Lily, and Jackson because they know their strength and weakness to keep their ladder position the same.
Water and Rock usually change the most due to their type difference, Electric very rarely moves and if it does it goes down, and this system has caused the League to hand out maps to every trainer with that years ladder. Ghost and Ice are the second most popular to move but unlike every years its every three years like clock work. The Ice Gym Leader is unable to properly work out her team, being wheelchair bound and unable to properly track through the snow, so it usually fluctuates from the lack of trainers. Cadenza Flicker, the Ghost gym leader, has no problem with the situation at hand. Unlike the others who hate having to constantly switch.
Cadenza Flicker and Mini Tooks are not best friends but their close. Unable to see each other as often as they wish since Mini is again wheelchair bound and unable to travel through thick snow like other trainers and Cadenza’s large flame burns that cover a majority of her body keep her from staying in the snow for long. Though, once the summer arrives and the majority of the snow melts, Cadenza moves her team up to Mini’s gym to keep the girl company until fall comes around.
