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Cecile Madhukar is the Njoty gym leader and responsible for the Path Badge. She specialises in Bug and Poison pokémon and spends most of her time with research, helping the other people in the PPSC. She's single.
Personality
Out of all gymleaders, Cecile is possibly the most unassuming. She's inherited the Njoty pokégym from her family and thus can't claim to a life-altering experience from Taqnateh, and she doesn't - emotionally - understand what the big deal is. The gym circuit is nothing she spends much time with, and each time someone comes to her about it, she perceives it as something of an intrusion and tries to deal with it as quickly as possible to get it over with.
Despite this, she's not unfriendly toward trainers, excepting perhaps an initial wariness - she doesn't really understand why anyone would want to do the gym circuit, so their motivations seem foreign to her - and reflex irritation, and is as cordial as her opponents' personalities allow for.
Her most prominent personality trait in general is her scepticism - she doesn't take bullshit from anyone. She's very pragmatic and doesn't mind getting her hands dirty. She decided a long time ago that “If you want something done, do it yourself” is a positive outlook on life, and she'll get herself involved in just about anything that looks like it might need help. She's quite famous for breaking up fist-fights - she's notoriously unafraid of physical damage despite quite a paranoid streak about people's intentions, which is to say she can arguably deal with open aggression better than with a multi-layered personality suggesting vague threats.
Appearance
Owing to her pragmatic attitude, Cecile wears whatever happens to suit the weather and circumstance, so she can't be said to have a standard outfit, but in line of her work with the Science Center, she can be seen wearing a labcoat. Since that has never stopped her from actually poking through the foliage, though, it's rarely spotless despite her efforts to keep it such (out of stubborn desire to look passably professional). Her eyes have a habit of appearing almost purple, but are actually blue-grey.
Pokémon
Opinions
Cecile has no real opinion about Taqnateh and Jagdish Tsukinaka - his personality is as foreign to her as that of regular pokémon trainers and her tactic of dealing with such things is to simply ignore them. She'll listen to his instruction and that of the legendary Council, but has been known to ask frustrating questions about them, or generally arguing as if a bit oblivious to the position she's in (which is to say, relatively powerless).
She strongly dislikes Dakarai N'Sehla for the way he fought in her gym while doing his gym circuit, and the tales she's heard from the other gym leaders and Council ruling have certainly done nothing to warm her heart to him. That being said, 'hate' would be a definite overstatement.
Descriptions from Sessions
Collected from N'Sehla:
Cecile shifts to a rise, grey eyes sparkling with that very fire that so often seems to give them colour. A moment's hesitance passes, before she's slid her left hand's thumb into one belt loop, right dangling beside her.
Cecile's steps come roughly matched by Dakarai's sure stride, his fingers wrapped around the straps of his rucksack, the nervousness from earlier entirely invisible in his demeanour. “How may I help you?” Cecile's smile appears on her face with almost practised ease, though her eyes retain that feel of scrutiny.
Confirmation received, Cecile slides her gaze back to Dakarai, almost up past her eyebrows. It's been a while since she's actually made use of the Path gym as an actual gym. Of course, there was something disturbing about that - better not be a trend. Grimace inward only, her lips are instead tugged by a marketing smile. “I do.” Head inclined, she adds, as if to have her part not be quite so brief and in after-thought: “Do you need time to prepare?”
What a bizarre individual - that glint to the eyes was familiar on some level of abstraction. Determination. Few people came around that had such a resolute air about them. Cecile's frown now appears, creasing her lips, though it is more one of being perplexed now. “Well then…” She hesitates with the gesture, a touch taken aback; then she points her hand flatly toward the door side end of the area. As if in emphasis, the Spinarak finally finds its way out of the doors, a fleck of motion. “Dual battle style, total of four,” she informs. “I'll give you a gesture when you may call your pokémon,” she nods as if acknowledging the veracity of her recitation, gaze a touch distant, even as she demonstrates the gesture, before she catches herself again. “Please take your spot.”
Dakarai adopts a slight look of confusion, himself. He can't really place her behaviour. She seems furious, but she's given an overall far too sensible impression as that he would mistake it for her being a sore loser. “Mrs. Madhukar, please… I assure you, I meant no harm.” It's a peg short of a soft stammer - and the wrong thing to say. Cecile's heart takes a leap at the statement and it is by the skin of her teeth that she resists throwing the words back at him with a 'You should listen to yourself someday'. No, this was not the time and place for that. 'Let him come to that conclusion himself, Cecile. This subject is not your responsibility. Do your job.' Silence is maintained, her gaze drifting off elsewhere simply to allow her to calm, lower lip trapped between her teeth.
It took her a moment - perhaps longer than was courteous even in Dakarai's book - but she found his face with her gaze once more, smiling slightly forcedly. “No hard feelings,” she assures, feeling as if she were lying. A breath escapes her in audible exhale, her eyes closing, allowing herself to adopt a beaten demeanour, though he would not know its true cause. “Path badge - you'll want it, right?” she manages to ask.
“Well… come with me, then.” Path badge. She didn't usually keep one of them on her, they were in a box on her living room table, for lack of a better place to put them, box and contents decorative more than ever necessary. So tired - she felt she must be sounding as if torn from deep, necessary sleep. Turning, she walks in lead toward the glass wall, feeling… numb? Was that the best word to describe it?