Elesa

Elesa is a Unovan League Gym Leader in her mid-twenties who abandoned her successful modeling career to take control of her life. She's disdainful of her quiet, imposing reputation and enjoys making bad puns to express her own capacity to be silly. Owing to her past as a child star, Elesa is moody and oftentimes emotionally unstable despite being able to put up a charismatic front. Over the course of months, Elesa has fattened herself up and has become comfortable with her new, softer body.

Elesa is the Nimbasa City Gym Leader, an ex-model whose lengthy career left her desperate to take control of her life. As an Electric-type specialist, she utilizes quick and hard-hitting Electric-type Pokémon to barrage and overwhelm challengers and awards the Bolt Badge to those who defeat her. Elesa has a dignified and stoic presence, often stone-faced, but she resents this aspect of herself and wishes she could more easily get herself to be kind. Although disciplined and principled, Elesa is fickle and has trouble dealing with her own emotions.

Elesa's mother, a recognized and esteemed fashion designer, was quick to subject her daughter to strict training so she could become a model at a young age. Elesa had to mature quickly, detaching herself from childish habits and inclinations so she could compete before cameras as a model. The cutthroat fashion industry was the world Elesa grew up in, and over time she began to hate it as she became increasingly more aware of how she'd been funneled into it with little choice in the matter. She tolerated it for a long time but sought out Pokémon battling as a means to de-stress and became a very strong trainer. Pokémon battles are everything to Elesa that modeling isn't: exhilarating, inspiring, and dignifying.

Elesa became Nimbasa City's Gym Leader when her fame as a public figure shed light on her strengths as a Pokémon trainer, and it was around that time when she broke free of her mother's grip on her to establish her own career. Nimbasa City is the Unova region's most populous city, featuring an amusement park, a musical theater, and plenty of places to engage in Pokémon battles. Before her retirement from the spotlight, Elesa may as well have been the city's mascot, a representative of the massive community whose face appeared in advertising all around. It was a great privilege but an unimaginable amount of pressure, too, especially for someone with roots like hers.

After enduring the spotlight for years, Elesa eventually quit signing new business contracts; her retirement was at first subtle until she came right out and announced that she was done being a model, an idol, and an icon. She maintained her status as a Gym Leader but now only conducts privately held battles and is on rocky terms with the Unova Pokémon League for her refusal to appear in public.

In the pursuit of exerting autonomy over her own identity, Elesa has deliberately fattened herself up, an open secret deemed insane by many. Elesa is far happier as a fat woman than she was when she was the thin, elegant puppet everyone ogled, and she maintains her fitness despite her excess weight.

Elesa stands at five feet and four inches tall, weighing in at two hundred and eleven pounds. She has blue eyes, a baby face, short blonde hair, and is fond of headbands but has shied away from the striking fashion style she once was never seen without. With little reason to leave the house, Elesa lives inside her comfortable sweaters, tights, sweatpants, and loafers. She hates admitting it, but she would enjoy dressing up again, as while fashion was never her true calling, she did enjoy it.