Nickname: Dante

Received From: Professor Lucas Hawthorn’s Pokémon Laboratory in Sandgem, Sinnoh as her starter.

Gender: Male

Nature: Rash

Characteristic: Somewhat of a clown

Ability: Blaze

Evolution History (under Emery’s care): Chimchar → Monferno → Infernape

Move-set:

• Fire Blast
• Power-up Punch
• Acrobatics
• Taunt

Personality:

Energetic: Dante is bursting with energy and often can’t sit still. He’s always ready to go and loves being active, whether he’s training, battling, or just exploring. In battle, he keeps his opponents on their toes by always being on the move. As Emery is also fairly high energy, the two like to work out together, going on runs and doing exercises.

Impulsive: Dante tends to act before he thinks, doing things on a whim that often get him in trouble, like bothering other pokémon or picking fights. However, this trait helps him think quickly in battle, making him skilled at fast dodges and attacks.

Upbeat: Dante’s a positive pokémon by nature and rarely is without a smile on his face. He loves making others happy as well, though sometimes he goes overboard with his attempts and just ends up causing trouble. All the same, his cheerful attitude can help boost the spirits of Emery’s whole team. 

Loyal: Dante is ride or die for his trainer and teammates. As a social pokémon, he values their friendship above all else and will do anything to protect them, even the teammates he doesn’t get along with as well. Emery is one of his best friends in addition to being his trainer and he loves spending time with her.

Battle Style: 

In battle, Dante overwhelms his opponents with quick attacks and dodges, jumping around the battlefield and trying to stay unpredictable before getting in close to attack. After lots of hard work training together, he and Emery have become in sync enough that he can act on his own, not always needing a command from her. This helps them keep their opponents guessing and use the element of surprise to their advantage. However, while Dante is fast and can attack well from a distance, he leaves himself open when he does so and is fairly fragile, so he and Emery focus on training his defenses and speed so he can deal more damage up close with multiple attacks, not giving opponents time to retreat and counter attack.

History: 

Dante is the son of Lucas’s Lucario and Barry’s Infernape, so he grew up exploring the lab. His energetic personality led him into trouble plenty of times, often causing messes or bothering visiting trainers. In fact, Lucas often joked that the Chimchar reminded him of Barry. Any time a new trainer visited, Chimchar tried desperately to catch their attention, hoping he’d be chosen as their starter, however most found his energy to be too overwhelming and opted to pick a different starter. When Emery and Gavin came to choose their starters, Chimchar hoped that Gavin would pick him, since he was the son of Chimchar’s own parents’ trainers. However, to his surprise, Chimchar was chosen by Emery instead. He was initially worried that Emery would find him too troublesome, knowing that he was high maintenance, but to his delight she had chosen him because of his energy. Gavin might have made fun of Emery’s nickname for her starter, but Dante cherishes his name as proof that he’s found a new best friend in his trainer.

While they got along well from the beginning, Emery and Dante found they had more trouble when it came to training. Emery always wanted Dante to go all out and attack, which often led to Dante struggling once his opponent attacked him back. After losing a few battles, Dante was afraid that Emery would return him to the lab for not being able to win, but Emery ends up blaming herself for their failure. She tells Dante that she must not be a very good trainer and wonders if she has what it takes. Dante is shocked to hear this, since he’s seen how hard Emery’s been working, and does his best to tell her that. The two decide to push on and try for their first gym badge in Oreburgh, knowing it would be a tough battle for Dante due to the type disadvantage. However, Emery assures Dante that if they work together, along with Damian, the Shinx that she had caught, they would surely be able to win.

Despite their positive attitude, Emery’s team aren’t able to beat Roark, and Dante ends up being knocked out by Roark’s Craniodos. This loss is especially hard on Dante, since he feels like he let Emery down even more after promising her they’d overcome their struggles and win the gym battle. Emery tries to cheer him up, but Dante is sure that he won’t be able to win even if they try again, losing his usual positive attitude. While Emery is trying to encourage Dante, they happen to meet Renato, a trainer from Johto who had already defeated Roark and also had a fire type starter. Renato offers to watch Emery and Dante training and give them advice. They head out to Route 207 to train against the wild pokémon there, though Dante is still feeling discouraged, so he’s not doing too well in battle. Renato notices that while Dante is fast and attacks well at distances, he’s also weak to long range attacks and isn’t as strong when fighting close up. He suggests that Emery try to help Dante overcome those disadvantages, and assures her that understanding her pokémon’s strengths and weaknesses is the key to winning any battle.

Feeling renewed after hearing Renato’s encouragement, Dante dives into his training with Emery, focusing on a new strategy that involves attacking from afar, then rushing in close when their opponent is caught off guard and unleashing a series of quick close-range attacks. With their training underway, Emery decides to challenge Roark’s gym once more. This time, the battle is much more intense, coming down to a standoff between Dante and Craniodos at the end. Dante is down to low health, Damian has been knocked out, and Emery is starting to worry that she’ll lose again. Sensing his trainer’s worry, Dante wills himself to keep going, putting his all into the battle and, in the process, evolving into Monferno, surprising both Emery and Roark. Taking advantage of the surprise, Dante ran in close to Craniodos and released a Power-up Punch, knocking out the pokémon thanks to his new secondary fighting type. Roark congratulates Emery on her win, handing her her first ever Gym Badge and Dante leaps into her arms… and knocks her completely over, forgetting that he’s now quite a bit bigger and heavier. 

Following their first Gym Battle victory, Emery and Dante continue to travel and train together, growing closer and more in sync with each new victory, especially once he evolves into Infernape. While Dante remains Emery’s main pokémon, he soon finds himself in the center of a rivalry between her Mismagius, Ebony, and Togekiss, Estrella. While he tries to be a good team leader, Dante finds that he’s not very good at keeping his more troublesome teammates in check. He can get grumpy when there’s fighting going on that he can’t stop, and he tends to go to some of the more responsible members of Emery’s team like her Gallade, Rune, for help whenever there’s a problem he can’t solve. In some ways, he’s both the big brother and little brother of her team, but most of her pokémon, even the most stubbornly antisocial ones, find him endearing in his own way.

(Profile layout credit to kasuria and toasty-coconut)