Kia Masuda
Kia Masuda is a major character in Pokemon: New Horizons, and one of the traveling companion to Mige Fjord. Kia is an intelligent and reserved person, with a keen eye for details, a unique creative sense, and a strong sense of loyalty. She is a skilled photographer, rarely seen without her camera, who focuses on presentation and the stories photography can tell over strict technique.
Kia is a friend of Aerik Hargraves and was introduced in Pokemon: Seasons, where she played a supporting role before departing for Kalos in SS012.
Character
Kia is a soft-spoken but determined young woman, who has a deep-seeded sense of loyalty and a seeming natural talent for a Pokemon training. An introverted artist and photographer, Kia is laid back and sensible, but also possessing of an unorthodox way of problem-solving. She is often a voice of reason, though she has a deep interest in ghosts and the paranormal. Kia has difficulties were her self-esteem and confidence, finding very little of worth within herself and very little to love, or even like. Shadow Jirachi implied that Kia has struggled with suicidal thoughts in the past while trying to weaken her resolve. She has an inferiority complex, stemming from being perpetually in her older brother’s shadow. Her parents never prioritized her, just letting her skate by with whatever as long as she wasn’t failing her classes. While she found a place within Accumula Team (see below), Kia still struggles with the feeling that she’s not as important as her brother. She doesn’t resent her brother for this, but it’s a feeling she struggles with every day. She also struggles with feelings of guilt; she feels as if she abandoned Aerik when he went into the Dreamworld, and she feels as if she shouldn’t have withdrawn from the tournament among her friends to see who would go to Reversal Mountain. She regrets these decisions; she feels like her fear controlled her and, because of that, she wasn’t there for Aerik the way she should have been. While she may not think so, in truth Kia is extremely brave, as shown when she was willing to venture into the Black Obelisk of Shadow Jirachi with Mige and the others in order to save the world. During that same trip, Kia never backed down and proved to be resourceful, clever, and strong-willed: by the end, she was the only one who hadn’t succumbed to Shadow Jirachi’s corrupting influence, and it was Kia who helped snap Mige back to reality so that they could save the world. She and Budew even proved useful in the final battle with Shadow Jirachi. While she’s not the most powerful trainer, she has a good heart and unyielding spirit—which are arguably even stronger weapons in her arsenal than any other. She is a talented artist, with a keen eye for detail and composition. While her older brother Wynn and best friend Tessa are also talented artists in their own right, Kia approaches things differently: Kia doesn’t like focusing on technique, but rather on the “feeling” of a piece. While she is a talented painter and artist, her specialty—and her passion—is photography. She once had the desire to pursue photography on a professional level, and when the world is saved she still thinks that she’d like that. Her tastes are fairly broad and obscure, and she is labeled as something of a music snob among Accumula Team—though nobody would claim her taste is bad. She and her brother often argue, finding the others’ tastes to be pretentious. Kia considers her sensibilities to be “more grounded” than Wynn’s; she argues for story and feeling, while Wynn usually pushes for raw emotionality. This does not mean that they are incompatible; the opposite is true, in fact. Both often push each other, artistically, to grow and expand their tastes and comfort zones. Kia’s journey through Kalos was inspired mostly by her desire to protect Aerik. Having loved him since she was still a child, Kia has accepted that he will likely never see her the way that she sees him. While the Organization frightens her, Kia refuses to stand by any longer. She’ll get stronger, she’ll get braver, and she’ll help stop the Organization before they can hurt Aerik or anyone else.Physical Appearance
Kia is stands a little over average height for a girl her age, with medium-length black hair and dark brown eyes. She has a small frame, with long legs. She has a skinny build, with Colton occasionally referring to her as a “beanstalk” for her lack of curves. She has fair, almost pale skin. Kia is far-sighted, and while she usually wears contacts, she will sometimes wear her circle-framed glasses. Since coming to Kalos, and especially after their adventures in Fiore, Kia has been wearing her glasses more often than not. Kia’s style is understated, utilizing sweaters and layers to be stylish but never the center of attention. She prefers neutral and dark colors, accented with navy and olive on occasion—especially when choosing jackets or sweaters. She doesn’t wear a lot of jewelry, though she has several ear piercings on each ear. She sometimes adds ties to her outfit, usually black or red ties. She always has her “trusty” brown, leather messenger bag with her, which was gifted to her by Aerik and Darcie when she started high school. She carries anything that matters to her inside; her camera, her laptop, cords, makeup, keys, books; literally everything.Outfits
The following is a brief description of the various outfits Kia has worn through her various appearances.Pokemon: Seasons
As a student at Ridgepoint Academy, Kia wore her school uniform; a black skirt, tights, and a vest with a white button-up top. Kia wore a variety of ties with her uniform, as well. Her main outfit in Pokemon: Seasons was a light-weight hooded grey jacket worn over a white, long-sleeve shirt, with black skinny-jeans and ankle-height combat boots. During Aerik’s good-bye party, she wore a black button-up shirt with a red tie, a navy skirt, and tights with her combat poots. When Aerik returned to Accumula Town and her friends held a party for him and his new trainer friends, Kia wore a grey t-shirt with her skinny jeans. Unlike many others, she did not seem to have “party” or “formal” outfits, nor did she wear any dedicated athletic outfits for working out. During the group’s stay at the Pearlgarden Hotel’s Palatial Suite in Nacrene City, Kia joined the others for dips in the jacuzzi or a swim in the pool on the rooftop, where she wore a black, one-piece swimsuit.Pokemon: New Horizons
Kia’s main outfit has changed a bit since going to Kalos. She now wears a light black cardigan over a heavier, white shirt. She wears black skinny jeans, as well, as well as her combat boots. She wears her glasses most of the time, as she’s been too busy to worry about getting new contacts. She seems to have an athletic outfit now, wearing yoga pants and a baggy blue band-shirt, with the logo for an obscure Ransanese indy band. When she exercises, she usually pulls her hair into a ponytail.History
Kia is the youngest child of Yoshiro and Jun Masuda, straight-laced “traditionalists” from Johto. She had a very strict upbringing, but also a very lonely one. While her family was well off and they lived a comfortable life, Kia was always in her brother’s shadow and her parents did not pay her much mind in favor of nurturing Wynn’s natural talent. She was a very shy young girl with few friends outside of her brother, and despite her own artistic sensibilities she paled in comparison to Wynn. She was never able to live up to him, and she never accomplished anything that made her parents take notice or be proud of her. So long as her grades were good enough, they left her alone to fend for herself. She met Aerik when she was 11 years old, when he came to visit Wynn late that summer. While she was shy around him at first, she was quickly taken with him—he was kind, generous, and has a special, unique kind of vibe. He treated her brother well, and he was always kind to her. As she grew older, Kia would acknowledge that Aerik was the first boy she ever loved. Through Wynn, and Aerik to a lesser extent, Kia become involved with Accumula Team, despite being younger than them. She met Tessa—her best friend—through the boys. Tessa was outgoing and larger than life in Kia’s eyes, and it wasn’t long before Tessa took Kia under her wing. The two hit it off quickly, and even when they eventually went to separate schools the two remained close. For several years, Kia grew extremely close with her friends in Accumula Team. She grew more confident thanks to them; they helped her find a place for herself. She’d always look back on those days as some of the best and happiest of her life. In 2019, Zyran left for Kanto to attend the Silverthorne Trainer’s Academy. It was abrupt and shook the friend group. Only a few months later, near the beginning of the 2020 season, Aerik revealed he was going to begin his own trainer’s journey—and he’d be leaving soon. Kia was secretly devastated by this news—she never had any delusions that she and Aerik would be together, but she had grown accustomed to his presence, both at school and outside of it. She couldn’t imagine the friend group’s dynamic without him, and the thought of him out there in the wilds by himself made her feel immensely uneasy. Of course, she hid it well. On the outside, she seemed to take it the best; she didn’t seem to be as affected as the others. She made the decision to be happy for him and supportive, and when anybody would catch her in a period of feeling depressed she’d just say that she was bummed that she wouldn’t get to hang out “with the whole group” anymore. Kia bottled everything up and tried not to think about it—at the very least, she’d still get to hang out with Tessa and Wynn, if nothing else. When Aerik left, Kia attended his going away party at the Accumula Lanes Bowling Alley, where she gifted him 5 Nest Balls; she figured they’d be the most useful to him on the road and she liked the aesthetic. When Aerik left, Kia just laid in her room for a while and let herself feel the pain of missing him. He returned a week later, though it was only supposed to be for a few days. Kia attended the party Darcie and Colton threw for him that night at Colton’s house. She wanted to talk to Aerik and even toyed with the idea of confessing to him, but seeing him with Jenn put her off the idea. The next day, however, Aerik went missing. Kia joined in to help find him, and when he showed up again in Striaton City two days later, Kia was the first to grab her bag to go find him. In fact, she was the one who convinced Wynn to pay the train fair to get up there. She only expected to leave Accumula Town behind for a few days. But things would happen she couldn’t have imagined, and before long, things began to change once more along with the seasons…Relationships
Kia is a soft-spoken and quiet girl. She isn’t popular, but she’s grown to be fine with that. She doesn’t like the spotlight much, she finds, preferring to help and interact behind the scenes, as it were. She is a helpful person, and is quick to memorize facts about people—such as favorite bands, favorite drinks, and so on—for future reference. She enjoys doing things for people and in creating things. Among her friend groups, Kia is usually quiet and sensible; she often acts as a voice of reason. Among the Accumula Team, Kia is almost always quiet and rarely contributes much to conversation. She even comes across as a bit timid at times and, especially compared to the rest of the group, is often viewed as the pragmatic one. Despite this, Kia is usually objective and clear-headed about things, which has led to Aerik calling the two of them “The Jury” for their ability to make judgements when Accumula Team was having trouble making decisions. She really liked this role, in part because it made her feel important and a little older, but because it was a silly little thing she shared with Aerik. With her Kalos friends, however, Kia is a bit more outspoken. While she still most often defers to the experience and knowledge of her companions, Kia is an active participant. A big part of the reason why is that she’s not in Kalos to make friends; she’s there to get stronger so that she can help stop the Organization and keep Aerik, her brother, and all of the people she loves safe. In that goal, Kia has a single-minded dedication; she devotes most of her time to training and studying. When she’s drunk, Kia tends to come out of her shell a little bit. She becomes very curious and “snoopy”, as Felicity put it once, poking around in cabinets and closets. She can even be a bit mischievous, moving family photos around, rearranging silverware cabinets, or seeing how high she can stack things on a sleeping friend before they knock it over. She also becomes more talkative and a bit more adventurous, suggesting games of truth or dare, or even simply engaging in an hourlong conversation with someone about nothing in particular. Romantically, Kia hasn’t had the best luck. She’s had a few boyfriends here and there, but never for very long—and it’s almost always her that ends the relationships. It’s not always because of Aerik, either; she’s accepted that he’ll never love her back and she genuinely tries at her relationships. She doesn’t really feel comfortable doing “couple stuff”, like going on dates, kissing, and so on. Not she’s a nun, but she doesn’t really see what the big deal about that kind of stuff. Darcie always insisted that when she found the right person, Kia would “get it”. The thing is, Kia figures she DID find the right guy. Aerik breaks all of the rules; he makes her nervous. The two met when she was quite young, and her feelings for him have only really grown stronger with time. She always jumped at the chance to see him when he’d come by to see Wynn; her brother often took ages to get ready, so Kia would keep Aerik company, offering him tea or soda and chatting. She’s very conscious of him; how he walks, how he holds himself, his tone, even how he breathes. She’s also very conscious of herself when he’s around; she does her best to look the best she can if she thinks she may run into Aerik. Being around Aerik makes smiling and laughing come easier, and when he’s around she doesn’t feel quite so sad or alone. Aerik makes her feel warm inside. She thinks Aerik’s the coolest fucking person in the world and he makes her heart burst right down the seams, and has the ability to completely turn her day around with little more than a smile. She writes him letters about her adventures and her feelings every single day, which are more like diary entries, but she does not ever plan for him to receive them. A part of Kia wishes that she could tell him how she felt, but she knows very well that it’s not going to happen. She’s seen the parade of girls Aerik has dated or had flings with, and she is extremely aware that she’s not like them—not as pretty, not as cool, not as fashionable. She just doesn’t measure up to them. She’s accepted that reality, though; she doesn’t have any delusions that she’d ever have a chance with Aerik. So there’s nothing she can do, except for bury her love for him and do what she can to be there for him, watching him and caring for him from afar. This has translated into going to Kalos to become stronger, something that is motivated primarily by her immense desire to protect him. The way Kia sees things, she has always loved him, she continues to love him, and she will always love him.Pokemon
As a Pokemon trainer, Kia is a little unorthodox. She approaches things in a different way than many trainers, focusing on the feelings and desires of her Pokemon before anything else. Like Mige, she only really wants to capture Pokemon she has a connection with and that want to come with her. She seems to inspire a lot of love and loyalty in her Pokemon, all of whom seem enthusiastic to train with her, and eager to make her proud of them. In battle, Kia’s style mirrors Mige’s a bit, in that she doesn’t rely on type matchups and thinks outside the box with her strategies. This resourcefulness has assisted her immensely, and has allowed her to hold her own against opponents much stronger and more experienced than herself. She is an extremely skilled battler, and she rarely ever loses battles thanks to her grit, cleverness, and intuitive understanding of and relation to her Pokemon.Nicknames
Kia nicknames her Pokemon, choosing cute sounding names that are words in the Ransanese language. Of her current Pokemon: Shinju the Spoink - a name meaning “pearl”. Ichika the Budew - a name meaning “love” and “gift”. Yami the Purrloin - a name meaning “dark” or “sly”. Shirori the Fennekin - a name meaning “spiritual” and “wise”. Jagaimo the Eevee - a name meaning “potato”. Osakai the Sinistea – a name meaning “tea party”, as a little girl might have with her toys.On Hand
 Shinju |
 Ichika |
 Gorotsuki |
 Shirori |
 Jagaimo |
 |
Accomplishments
The following are a list of accomplishments Kia has achieved throughout her story in the world of Pokemon.Badges
Kalos
Kia does not currently have any badges, as of NH026.Alternate Versions
- Main Article: Alternate Timelines
Timeline-001 – Unknown
Main Article: Timeline-001 In Timeline-001, Kia is listed among those whose fates were never definitively determined; Celosia-001 listed Kia-001 as “gone”. What exactly this meant was initially unclear, but it was cleared up a little more later on. In Future Celosia’s Letter, Celosia-001 mentioned that after the events with Team Relic, Kia “left”, presumably to return to Unova. Her ultimate fate in this timeline is unknown, aside from Kia-001 and Aerik-001 did not end up together.Timeline-002 – Disillusioned Caretaker
In Timeline-002, unofficially referred to as “the Vigilante Timeline”, Kia-002 was battered and disillusioned after Mige-002 broke ties with the group following Crystal-002’s death. Kia-002 remained with Jen-002, until Jenn and Felicity-002 were both eventually killed by Vincent-002. Kia-002 and Aerik-002 ended up tracking down Mige-002 to Saffron City where Aerik confronted him. This encounter led to Mige-002 crushing Aerik-002’s legs, crippling him. Disillusioned and angry, Kia-002 was responsible for getting Aerik-002 back to Unova where, according to Alexa-002, she remains to help care for him. Kia-002 has not spoken to Mige-002 since that day.Timeline-003 – Casualty of War
Main Article: Timeline-003 Kia-003 is listed among the many casualties of those who died to stop Team Relic and the Organization so many years before, a revelation that seemed to deeply upset Mige-Prime.Timeline-004 – Hermit
Main Article: Timeline-004 In this timeline, Kia-004 survived everything but she lost almost everyone she cared about; according to Alexa-004, nearly all of Accumula Team-004 died. Kia-004, broken by losing her brother and most of her friends, left and disappeared somewhere in the Unovan wilderness to live as a hermit. Alexa-004 mentioned that she was unsure if Kia-004 was alive at that moment, as Mige-004 hadn’t heard from Kia-004 since 2022; more than a decade before at that point.Timeline-005 – Murdered
Main Article: Timeline-005 According to Celosia-005, Kia-005 died during the events of 2020-2021. Specifically, she is among the many that were said to have been killed by Vincent-005.Timeline-006 – Gym Leader Kia
Main Article: Timeline-006 According to Tim-006, Kia-006 survived and made it to the Top 4 in the Lumiose Conference. While little is known about Kia-006’s life, by 2029, she had accepted the position of a grass-type gym leader in Unova, and was living in Eindoak Town “with her husband”, though who that is was never specified.Timeline-007 – War Hero
Main Article: Timeline-007 Lara-007 indicated that Kia was “heroic” and became very close with Lara-007 during their journey. Kia-007 is said to have returned to Unova after Team Relic was defeated, where she traveled with Aerik-007 and their friends to continue the fight against the Organization. Kia-007’s ultimate fate is unknown, though Lara-007 did indicate that Kia-007 and Aerik-007 are not together.Timeline-008 – Twinned Fate
Main Article: Timeline-008 This timeline is almost identical to Timeline-007, with some minor details changed. One new piece of information, however, is that August-008 and Yuki-008 both referred to Kia-008 as “Aunt Kia”. While the full extent Kia-008’s friendship with Mige-008 and his family is unknown, Mige-Prime found a condolences card signed by Kia-008 among the bevy of flowers, cards, and gifts dedicated to Lara-008.Appearances
Kia has made appearances in both Pokemon: Seasons as a recurring character, and in Pokemon: New Horizons as a main character. She also appeared in all six chapters of the Pokemon: Wish Upon a Star special, where she played a major role.Trivia
- Kia’s favorite camera is her vintage Rozo Supercolor 1000, which was a gift from Tessa.
- Kia’s favorite movies are horror movies and natural documentaries, which besides being relaxing, Kia claims to contain "existential horrors" of their own.
- Her favorite types of music are Witch House, Post-Punk, and Paldean Disco.
- Kia’s nickname of “The Mixologist” comes from her ability to mix drinks, which she learned through online tutorials.
- Her favorite drink is a gin and tonic.
- Kia is nearsighted.
- Kia’s legal name, Akiho, means “autumn”. This is a reference to the series where she made her debut, Pokemon: Seasons.
- Kia’s surname, Masuda, comes from Junichi Masuda, of the Pokemon Company.
Kia
Children
Nicknames: Kiki (Darcie) | The Mixologist (Aerik)
Birthday: June 14th, 2003 (17)
Hometown: Accumula Town
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Black
Height: 5'6"
Relatives: Wynn Masuda (brother)
Blood Type: B+
Occupation: Student
First Appearance: SS001 - The Star of Something Special | NH017 - Reunion in the City of Lights
Status: Alive
