Aerik Hargraves

Aerik Hargraves is the protagonist of Pokemon: Seasons and a member of the Accumula Team. Aerik is friendly and optimisitic and known for his upfront and honest attitude. He has shown that he is skilled as an acrobat and investigator and is an up and coming trainer despite his insecurities. His starter pokemon is an Emolga given to him by Professor Juniper and despite not being an official starter of the 2020/2021 season-- he is viewed as a "fourth" starter by both the professor and the other trainers that recieved starter pokemon. He is currently traveling through the Unova region.

Character

Aerik is friendly and often times the first to strike up conversation. He often displays upbeat energy and has a hard time sitting still whether it be tapping his toes, constantly moving while sitting or tapping a pencil on a desk while thinking. Aerik is often focused on trying to have fun and living life to its fullest. He is always up for an adventure and his curious nature and free spirit both work to push him towards eventful and sometimes dangerous situations.
Aerik is often a mediator among his group of friends however he can be just as much of a instigator as he finds some humor and comfort in listening to his friends bicker. He is an advocate for fairness among his friends and makes sure everyone does their part but also tries his best to see that no one is left out and has the short end of the stick. He has very little patience for people who bully or harras the closest of his friends and will generally stand up for them unless he feels like his help isn't wanted.
Aerik has a unique relationship with the law as his father's history as a star police officer and current head detective of the Accumula Police Department. He doesn't necessarily feel confined by law and will often break rules such as breaking and entering or trespassing however he is a little more strict when it comes to peoples safety or livelihood. He has no problem looking into police databases or hoping a freight train since they are harmless acts that benefit the group however he has a hard time dealing with stealing when someone innocent loses due to it. Aerik often has to try and convince Wynn that his plans push the line or struggles to deal with Lynette's stealing.
While Aerik is mostly confident when it comes to acrobatics and athleticism he is incredibly insecure about other aspects of his life. He always compares himself to his father when it comes to investigating and detective work; usually claiming that "his dad could've figurd it out." He is very discouraged in academic pursuits as he was never a star student outside of gym, maths, pokemonology and journalism; and found it hard to succeed without cheating off Darcie. While he doesn't have a "win at all costs" attitude he does sometimes feel overwhelmed about "big" matches when it comes to training such as tournaments or gym battles.

Appearance

Aerik is a few inches short of six feet and has a athletic build with all of his muscles trained for cardio and acrobatics. He has thick brown hair and bright blues eyes that he inherited from his late mother and keeps his face clean shaven. Despite looking much more like his mother Aerik did inherit his fathers skin ton which, although pale, tans very easily without the need of much sunscreen. Aerik's active lifestyle presumably has made his skin used to the sun and finds that he can tolerate most bright days.
Aerik sometimes doens't look before he leaps which has resulted in a few scars. When he was young he tried jumping off Darcie's dad's garage with an umbrella which resulted in him cutting open his left thigh and breaking his ankle. He still has a scar from the cut. Years later when helping Jenn with field work for Professor Juniper Aerik was slashed in the abdomen by a Sableye which left him with a lite scar.
Aeriks signature piece of clothing is his ToRi blue jacket, which he and Zyran bought at a ToRi outfitters. While Zyran already had the jacket he wanted in mind, Aerik took a long time browsing the store to find the "perfect one." He eventually settled on one he found in the clearence section from three seasons ago despite having enough money for a newer jacket. He has since worn the jacket daily. He even wore it when it was a bit too hot for a jacket-- and was pretty sttuborn about making sure he atleast had it with him when in the volcano. Instead of replacing the jacket he continues to wear it despite all the wear and tear. Felicity has since started stiching and cleaning his jacket when it needs it.
Most of the time Aerik wears practical clothing such as running shoes and flexible pants that are durable. However he has odd moments when fashion matters more than function. He refuses to wear hats as he was made fun of for wearing them when he was younger. He can't stand when shoes are "too padded" and gets uncomfortable if he can't feel the ground easily beneath his feet. Besides his trusty blue jacket Aerik can't stand wearing layers or more-than-the-basics. He finds gloves to be hindering, boots to weigh him down too much, heavy jackets are clausterphobic and scarves are suffocating. However despite not liking scarves he will wear the scarf Felicity made him should the weather permit it-- as it does mean a lot to him.
Aerik doens't like jewlery as it gives him the same clausterphobic feeling as many other articles of clothing, however three pieces of jewlery are important enough to him that he keeps them. Wynn carved a wooden Victini for Aerik at the start of his journey which Aerik keeps attached to his keys. The bracelet Jenn made for Aerik during Midsummer is kept in his wallet alongside a folded piece of paper with the name "Aala Hargraves" written on it. His father gave him a pendant before he started his journey that was once his mothers-- which he does wear despite still not fully used to wearing a necklace. It is a very important piece of jewlery to him and only became more important after his first time in the dream world.

History

Pre-Series

Aerik was born in Accumula Town to Aala and Harrison Hargraves, though he wouldn't find out he was conceived in the dreamworld until he was 18. He grew up living in the northside of town in a quiet suburban area. When Aerik was 8 he lost his mother due to complications with her pregnancy. After this Aerik and Harrison would move down town to a second story apartment. Aerik's father fell into a deep depression and while Aerik had a very hard time with his moms passing he decided to keep a smile on and do everything he could to help his father.
Aerik would become close friends with Darcie Summers in fourth grade when she told off some kids who were picking on Aerik during a mothers day project. The two became fast friends as they both had single dads and spent weekends at one anothers house as often as they could. They would go on to become friends with Zyran when he was held back for another year of fifth grade and the following year would meet Colton who had a hard time making friends when Aerik and Darcie invited him to sit with them at lunch.
Aerik would meet Wynn at the annual Accumula Fair when he overheard Wynn wanting to go on a haunted house ride but his parents wouldn't go on the ride with him. Aerik offered to go with him and since the two became close friends with Wynn being integrated into Aerik's friend group despite not going to the same school as them. Wynn's little sister, Kia, also became close with Aerik as the two would always chat and hang out when Aerik went over to their house. Kia's best friend Tessa was already friends with Aerik's group of friends as she asked Zyran out on a dare and which led to her hanging out with the "cool kids" in the grade above her.
Aerik and his friends became known as "The Accumula Team" among peers around their age range at Ridgepoint, Hillside, the Accumula School of Arts and Accumula High. They were seen as "the cool kids" who probably thought your music was lame and were kind of trouble makers-- but you needed them at your party for it to be a party. However the reality of the group getting older and getting ready for the next stage of life became apparent when Zyran decided to skip his final year at Ridgepoint and move to Kanto to attend Silverthorne Academy. This in turn inspired Aerik to start his own pokemon journey and expedite his finals so he could leave at the start of the upcoming season.

Seasons

Aerik was given a starter pokemon by Professor Juniper at the request of his father who knew the professor. He would be given an Emolga and a pokedex and be considered the honorary fourth starter. While initially Professors Junipers aide Jenn Greene was only supposed to escort the starters through the first route Aerik found that he enjoyed Jenn's company and wanted to travel with her. It wasn't long after the two decided to travel together. Aerik would soon find himself transported to the fabled Dream World and be reported missing for three days. This lead the Accumula team and Jenn to met him in Striaton City and becomes his traveling companions while he tried to figure out the mysteries of the dreamyard.
Later Aerik would go to Lentimas Town to help Jenn with her aide work alongside Darcie and Felicity. Jenn, Roark and Professor Juniper would end up being taken as captives by the then Persons Unknown. Aerik and Felicity would travel through the dream world only to return to the volcano that Jenn was kept in in order to save her. Aerik would end up teaming up with Aiden, Alexa, Ryan and others to save Jenn. While Aerik would inevitably save Jenn, Junniper and Roark as well as prevent Heatran from destroying east Unova his time with Felicity in the dream world as well as feeling Jenn still had some things to work out with Mige resulted in him and Jenn breaking up and Aerik going out with Felicity.
Felicity hadn't told her family that she left Accumula Town and they finally found her in Nacrene City. This resulted in Aerik attending a dinner with Felicity, her sister and father. Her father and Felicity ended up making an agreement that if she places high enough in the Unovan Contest Circuit she can continue to travel with Aerik and won't be expected to come home. Aerik is currently focusing on helping Felicity succeed at her goal while continuing his journey.

Relationships

Aerik is friendly to strangers most of the time and only becomes dismissive of them if they are unbearable or rude and antgonistic to his friends in some way. However his friendship with the other members of the Accumula team is something special. Most of them are extremely comfortable with on another and seemingly lack physical boundaries around one another as a way to show it. Aerik is especially comfortable hugging, stealing food off plates, letting his friends use his phone and sharing clothes with Zyran, Wynn and even lets the girls take his sweaters if they need them.
Aerik is also shown to quickly close the gap between "acquaintance" and "friend" really fast. He is generally open about anything when making new friends and is quick to try and invite them to do things with him. This is shown with Phoebe, Elijah, Audrey and Alan however it is most prominent with Jenn. Aerik very quickly let Jenn know that he thought she was a cool person to be around and admired her knowledge of pokemon and training. He quickly displayed comfort around her and made sure she always felt included-- even if some of his friends weren't immediatley sold on her.
While Aerik has a strong relationship with his friends he and his father have a "somewhat-awkward" relationship. It could be due to how often his father has to be at the station or even the result of losing Aerik's mother at a young age-- however years of having to stay positive for not just himself but also his dad took a toll on Aerik's relationship with Harrison. Despite this he does still care for his father and understands he cares for him even if he finds him a bit too overprotective and doesn't always tell his dad everything.
Aerik very quickly accepted that Lynnette is his sister and doesn't question the validity of her existance despite being "born a dream." He cares a lot for her since he was always saddened that his sister died in childbirth and while they haven't spent the most time together already have a strong bond.

Pokemon

As a new trainer Aerik is still trying to find out his style although he is starting to train most of his pokemon to try and outspeed his opponents. This is especially true for Emolga who can be seen as the leader of Aerik's team and is somewhat setting the mold of how Aerik trains his pokemon. Along side outspeeding his opponents Aerik also tries to think outside the box to confuse his enemies or use the environment in his favor-- which is something Jenn encouraged him to do early on.
Aerik notably doesn't use his ring or middle finger to activate pokeballs but instead uses his thumb. This is likely due to how he throws pokeballs when doing his "signature technique" the "Hargraves Hurl." Despite many insisting that Aerik is simply just throwing a pokeball it is noteworthy that Aerik has a high success rate of capturing pokemon without even battling them first.

On-Hand

Emolga	Patrat	Totodile
Skiddo	Rockruff	Gothita

Given Away

Petilil

Budew

Oricorio

Released

Basculin

Clauncher

Skills & Talents

Aerik has many skills and talents. Despite being young he is constantly working on improving himself and is on the road to achieveing peak human speed and agility. He realizes he has a long way to when it comes to his detective, research and investigative skills but seems to focus on these skills just as much as any other of his abilities.

• Acrobatics: Aerik is proven to be a skilled acrobat despite having formal training. He is often performing various flips and other stunts that push his acrobatic prowess.
• Athleticism: Aerik is an efficient climber and runner. He is shown to be extremely capable in cardio activites.
• Investigation: Aerik is highly skilled in investigation from years of observing his dad work on cases and reading various books on detective work he found in old boxes as a kid. Aerik is able to make unlikely connections, notice miniscule details and utilize various forms of logic to understand motive and solve mysteries.
• Novice Duelist(Pokemon): While Aerik is a new trainer he has been called "naturally gifted" by both Jenn and Professor Juniper. He figures out ways to use the field to his advantage and has pulled off some clutch victories.
• Stealth: Aerik is able to tail individuals, blend in crowds and contort himself to hide in small spaces.

Mystic Abilities

Aerik has shown to have some mystical gifts, specifically some latent psychic abilities. However it is very likely that most of his powers only work when within a dream. This is likely a result of being conceived within the dream world. The true nature of his powers have yet to be revealed.

• Psychic Shielding: Aerik's mind is unable to be read or tracked by other mystics.
• Unspecified Dream Powers: While Caitlin explained that he has psychic capability within dreams; what this is isn't exactly known. Aerik has never succesfully managed to use these powers on his own.

Achievements

Unova Badges

This listing is of the Badges Aerik has obtained in the Unova region:

• Trio Badge

Pokemon Competitions

• 2020 Second Annual Accumula Fishing Spectacular - Winner
• The First Annual Bolkstoff Bash - Winner

Other Accomplishments

• Winner of "The Grand Prize" at Crazy Hansel's Golf-travaganza

Appearances

^{Main article: Complete List of Appearances (Aerik Hargraves)} As the protagonist of Pokemon: Seasons, Aerik has yet to not appear in an episode. He has been in all episodes of Seasons so far. While he hasn't appeared in any of the other series he is mentioned often, especially in Pokemon: New Horizons due to Kia and Jenn joining the cast and sharing their knowledge of Aerik and his adventures to Mige.

Trivia

• The spelling of Aerik's name is said to be the way it is spelt in Kanto.
• Aerik holds the record of most pokemon obtained via capture in debut episode of three; despite only keeping one of said captured pokemon.
• While Aerik seems pretty open to try many foods his favorite seems to be sandwiches of many different styles.
• Aerik dislikes extremely sour things and pickles.
• While most of Aerik's music taste is similar to that of Tessa, Kia and Zyran's-- he notably has a soft spot for Central Unovan Hip-Hop.
• In A Midsummer Miracle it is revealed Aerik has claustrophobia.
• Aerik's favorite pokemon is Emolga due to receiving them as his starter, however he mentioned that when he was young Growlithe was his favorite.
• Aerik's least favorite pokemon is Audino as a lone Audino would wander into town and go through the trash at night-- which would cause his dad to blame him for not securing the lid tightly.
• In Arrival in the City of Grandeur it is revealed that Aerik has an extreme aversion to clowns.

Aerik

Full Name: Aerik Hargrave
Nicknames: N/A
Birthday: December 17th, 2001 (18)
Hometown: Accumula Town
Eye Color: Sky Blue
Hair Color: Brown
Height: 5'10"
Relatives: Harrison Hargraves (father)
Aala Hargraves (mother, deceased)
Lynette Hargraves (sister)
Leah Gardant (maternal aunt)
Ellie Gardant (cousin)
Blood Type: O+
Occupation: Aide (Professor Sycamore)
First Appearance: The Start of Something Big
Status: Alive