#peak challenger sakiko

[puppyluver256]

[Image Description: Three people (a man, an androgynous person, and a woman) swimming in the open water of a lake. The man (left) has light skin and short brown hair, and is wearing blue swim trunks with pale blue wave and bubble patterning. He is smiling with closed eyes. The person in the center has tan skin, long green hair in a ponytail, and maroon eyes. They are wearing a green swim top, teal swim trunks with aqua leaf patterning, and a ring with a green leaf emblem. They are looking back at the woman and smiling. The woman (right) has light tan skin, purple hair in a bun, and green eyes. She is wearing a red one-piece swimsuit with gold shoulder straps tied together behind her neck. She is looking toward the center person and smiling. The background is the blue-green open water of the lake, with light filtering down from the relatively close surface. Aquatic plants and a large rock with an orange sponge can be seen along the bottom, and a school of Magikarp are swimming in the distance. End ID.]

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Wanted to practice more underwater scenes, and what better way to do that than with Rosin Lake and the Rosin Falls Gym Leaders? When Sakiko came over from Johto for the Battle Peak, of course she had to come visit Kusaoi and catch up, and they decided to take her to the lake for a nice day on the water! And in the water, too! Clearly Reed was also more than happy to come along, I bet one of the boats he runs is up on the surface somewhere close by. I just didn't add in the outline of it in the background there because, well, I just didn't think about it XD

Anyway, speaking of the background, I'm really proud of how that came out, especially with me adding Spungel and the school of Magikarp as I don't usually add animal life in my backgrounds and keep them in the character art layers. Granted, that honestly is just the same Magikarp over and over again, but I painted the first Magikarp so I am within my right to copy-paste it all I want! …at least I would be, but it's no longer a free-standing element, so it wouldn't work taking it out of this pic now because green lake lighting and also It'd Be A Pain To Cut One Out Anyway, hehe.

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Magikarp (because of the background) and other Pokemon concepts © Nintendo/GameFreak Reed Irving, Kusaoi Watanabe, Sakiko Morikawa, Spungel (because of the background), and artwork © PuppyLuver Studios

[puppyluver256]

[Image Description: Two students wearing somewhat old-fashioned looking Japanese high school uniforms, walking together in front of a red brick wall with a bush and tree in front of it. The student on the left, wearing a masculine uniform in black with some cream accents and carrying a green bag, has tan skin, maroon eyes, green hair in a small ponytail, and glasses. They are scratching the back of their head, with their other hand in their pocket. The student on the right, wearing the feminine "sailor" uniform consisting of a cream shirt with a green sailor-style collar and a maroon pleated skirt and carrying a red and gold bag and a black instrument case, has tan skin with green eyes and violet hair in a ponytail. She appears to be talking to the other student in a quite positive manner. In the background, the Pokemon Oddish is sitting on the wall and can be seen between the students' heads. End ID.]

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Just a lil look into when Kusaoi and Sakiko were kids back when they both lived in the same town, hehe :3 I like to think that Kusaoi was starting to grow their hair out at this point, and regardless of whether or not they're still dating at this point or whether or not Kusaoi's come out yet, Sakiko's happy to see that they're happy with their little look change! ...and I'm not gonna lie, I put the Kantonian (or in this case, Johtoan?) Oddish in the background just to fill space and keep this Pokemon-y, something I'm sad I left out of that last Holly pic. XD

💖🐶 Check out my pinned post for ways to support my artwork, among other things! 🐶💖

~Likes are appreciated, but reblogs are preferred as they let more people see my artwork! If you have something to say, feel free to give feedback in tags/comments/replies as well!~

Pokemon and related concepts © Nintendo/GameFreak Kusaoi Watanabe, Sakiko Morikawa, and artwork © PuppyLuver Studios

[puppyluver256]

[Image Description: A woman with light brown skin and violet hair in a bun. She is wearing a silver hair accessory with matching earrings, a gold necklace with matching bracelet, a red sweater with yellow accents, and a dull blue skirt. She is playing a violin on a stage, standing in front of a red curtain with a pale yellow spotlight shining down on her. End ID.]

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Not really much to say, just Sakiko playing her violin :3

💖🐶 Check out my pinned post for ways to support my artwork, among other things! 🐶💖

~If you like, please reblog to show your friends! Likes are appreciated, but reblogs let more people see my content! If you have something to say, feel free to give feedback in tags/comments/replies as well!~

Pokemon and related concepts © Nintendo/GameFreak Sakiko Morikawa and artwork © PuppyLuver Studios

[puppyluver256]

[Image Description: A woman with tanned skin, green eyes, and violet hair in a large bun with a fancy silver hair decoration. She is wearing a red sweater with yellow accents, a golden necklace and matching bracelet, a teal skirt with aqua and turquoise detailing at the bottom, pale blue socks, and purple slip-on shoes. She is winking at the viewer and playing an orange violin. Beside her is the Pokemon Bellossom. It is a small green humanoid with two red rafflesia-like flowers on its head and large yellow and green leaves around its lower half, resembling a grass skirt. The background is the Bellchime Trail, a location in Johto from the Pokemon games. It is a long road flanked by yellow and orange trees, leading to an old-fashioned Japanese tower. End ID.]

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"Cantessy's Champion, I presume? Pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Sakiko, and I come from the Johto region. The beautiful landscape of your region rivals that of my home, right down to the glorious color of the autumn leaves. It's enough to bring forth music in my heart. Of course, you and I both know that neither of us are here for that kind of performance. The entire purpose of this facility is to do battle with Trainers of high skill, yes? I don't intend to lose, even to a regional Champion."

More Battle Peak representatives! Johto's representative is Sakiko, a violinist and old friend of Pokemon Plow's grass-type Gym Leader, Kusaoi. Like them, she was very much into music, taking a more classical path with regards to her instrument of choice. They actually used to be dating before parting on amicable terms due to each realizing they weren't straight (and in Kusaoi's case, not cis), and when Kusaoi left for Cantessy they kept in close contact with one another.

Given that Battle Peak is a Battle Tower-esque setup, Sakiko's team is slightly randomized depending on what battle conditions you have set. She will select either three (for single battles) or four (for double battles) from her "full" team of six. She will always include Bellossom on her team, and the rest of her team can include Crobat, Heracross, Girafarig, Sudowoodo, or Kingdra.

💖🐶 Check out my pinned post for ways to support my artwork, among other things! 🐶💖

~If you like, please reblog to show your friends! Likes are appreciated, but reblogs let more people see my content! If you have something to say, feel free to give feedback in tags/comments/replies as well!~

Bellossom and other Pokemon concepts © Nintendo/GameFreak Sakiko Morikawa, the Cantessy region, and artwork © PuppyLuver Studios

[puppyluver256]

Sakiko Morikawa

A violinist who battles on the side, and has become quite good at it. Sakiko is graceful and classy, though she has a humorous side to her that she’s not shy about showing. She and Kusaoi grew up together and even used to date before they realized they were incompatible purely from their respective gender attractions. Thankfully they parted amicably and were able to remain friends from that moment, even as Kusaoi emigrated from Johto to Cantessy. Even after they parted they both still managed to influence one another, both of them ending up having a fondness for Oddish.

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More Battle Peak! Here’s the Johto representative, Sakiko. I figured that if I was going to have Trainers from all over the world for this group, it’d be neat if the Johto rep was someone from Kusaoi’s old life. That and I like it when people who were once in relationships are still able to remain friends afterward, which in this case at least was made easier when the reason for the breakup is a mutual realization that either person is actually attracted to a gender that the other is not part of, hehe.

Since the Battle Peak is much like the Battle Tower and similar facilities, Sakiko doesn’t have a set team each time she’s fought. She will select three (or four, if in a double battle) from her six best Pokemon: Bellossom (who is always present),  Crobat, Heracross, Girafarig, Sudowoodo, and Kingdra.

Pokemon and related concepts © Nintendo/GameFreak Sakiko Morikawa and artwork © PuppyLuver Studios