ADMIN, edith herschel

EDITH HERSCHEL

History

Edith did not begin her life in the mainlands, and she certainly never thought that it was a place she would end up for most of her lifetime. She was born in the busy city of Black City in Unova to two loving parents. Both of her mother and father were mechanics who ran a shop repairing mostly different kinds of vehicles. They instilled a lot of important values in their daughter and provided her with a loving home. However, they also believed that one should never take life for granted, and from a young age Edith was encouraged to follow her own paths and stand up for herself. These freedoms brought out some good in her, but also made her a difficult peer. She was that elementary school girl beating up the boys down the street for calling her names, and she was helping her dad put together cars and engines for other machines as soon as he’d let her.

Back when she turned ten and was allowed to get her trainers license, battling was still allowed in Unova. With her overwhelming adventurous spirit, she set out the day of her birthday with a Klink given to her by her father. She swept through the region, always leaving behind a reputation for herself. By the time she was a teenager, the girl had grown into quite the beautiful young lady. However, she was also commonly referred to as a tramp. She wasn’t overly promiscuous, but she was a rockabilly greaser chick. She was always in pants, she kept her hair tied back in caves, she still worked on engines occasionally, she raced on a motorcycle, and she started smoking and drinking a bit sooner than she should’ve been allowed to. Edith could’ve been considered a part girl, as she always stubbornly lived life to the fullest, but her pride and a realistic set of morals helped keep her grounded enough to never get in too much trouble. At least until she came across Team Rocket.

In a journey to broaden her horizons, Edith made her way to Kanto. As soon as she got off the boat, her luggage was stolen by a man in black—including her pokémon. Rather than run to the police, she did the only thing that came naturally to her. She chased him down, beat him senseless, retrieved her belongings, and then took him out to lunch because she thought he was cute. This man was Damiãno, a Team Rocket officer. Even with a broken nose, he was charming and convinced her that joining their team would give her all the adventure she longed for. Their loved blossomed as her career with the criminal organization began. She was a terrifying and effective member of Team Rocket, and she pulled Damiãno up the ranks with her.

As an Elite member at age twenty-five, her superiors took an interest in her background as a mechanic and decided to send her to an academy to study Mechanical Engineering. They paid her way completely so that she could bring her broadened talents back to Team Rocket. While there, she met Harold Herschel. One night, she was merrily listening in on a sports event at a bar and proceeded to get in a team argument with a man named Paul. This argument escalated to the point that a mildly drunk Edith finally snapped and threw a chair at the man despite others trying to mediate. Edith was thrown out of the bar and banned from returning. (She is still banned to this day.) Thankfully, though, a friend of Paul’s named Harold Herschel came out to apologize for what had happened. She was skeptical, but accepted and then allowed the man to walk her home.

The bar fight was what sparked a sudden affair with Harold. He was a nerdy and mild-mannered academic, she was a ferocious troublemaker. Though a slightly odd couple, they were happy together. Harold knew of Damiãno, but Damiãno never knew of Harold. They met in secret, going to sporting events and concerts together. Edith had every intention of breaking off the affair when she graduated from the academy, but she never did. When Edith and Harold both graduated, they eloped in the night. Their love could not remain a secret after that, and a scorned Damiãno even broke off their Team Rocket partnership, but she didn’t care. Harold brought stability to her life that she never thought possible.

Harold and Edith settled down in the mainlands. Harold would explore caves and ancient ruins while she worked as an engineer completing different projects for Team Rocket. They lived very different lives, but they still came back to each other at the end of the day to laugh about their days. Though Harold never joined Team Rocket, he accepted that his wife was not going to leave the organization any time soon. And she didn’t.

For decades, Edith watched members come and go, leaders rise and fall. She and Harold had managed to travel the world a few times over thanks to their professions, but in the end they still came back to the mainland. Edith finally retired from the position of Team Rocket Admin at the age of sixty-one. She gave away the entirety of her pokémon collection to younger members of the team, keeping only her first pokémon (now a Klinklang) and a Metang to help out with housework and the onset of minor joint pain. The Herschel’s ended up opening a candy store in Goldenrod City so that Harold could pursue his hobby of candy making.

However, retirement was a word that drove Edith up the wall after just the first few weeks. Then, she watched as the Teams of other regions began making claims in the mainland. No matter how old she was, she wasn’t going to stand for the nonsense. Much to the chagrin of those hoping to replace her for good, Edith stepped back into the position of Admin at age sixty-five. She works hard using her forty-plus years of experience to advise and lead missions and projects.

RISTORANTE PARADISO, sophia ● edith herschel