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Character Name: Sum. He prefers not to be called by a name, even though he remembers his old human name, but will make exceptions depending on the context of the situation. Calling out to him by name in the middle of a crowd is tolerable, calling him by name in a one-on-one conversation is not - he knows who he is.

Type: Pokemon

Species: Yamask

Gender: Male

Height: 6' 2"

Age: 28 (at death)

Extra Notes: With his now-natural ghostly psychic abilities but what can be described to be an unstable mind and perspective, when Sum goes out of control, he sometimes creates visual "ripples" and ghostly illusions that distort his appearance to other viewers - an outward expression of his inner instability. Although he won't look significantly different, the warping is often noticeable and at that point it may be wise to back away from him.

Extra Notes: One other thing to note is Sum's way of speaking; his words are -- eloquent but distorted, as if by radio static and different vocal samples with different pitches and expressions from the same speaker. That's not to say that he stutters; rather, it is as if multiple voices are speaking all at once. They are all his voice(s) mind you, and he recognizes himself (that is, he's not schizophrenic or uncertain of his identity - yet), but it is simply another outward expression of his inner state of being, this time of the mixture of emotions he's feeling.




Nature:xxxxBold
xxxxxxxxxxxx1. adj. Not hesitating to break the rules of propriety; forward; impudent; immodest.
xxxxxxxxxxxx2. adj. Imaginative in thought or expression.
xxxxxxxxxxxxPreferences: Likes sour, dislikes spicy.

Ability:xxxxMummy
xxxxxxxxxxxxWhen the user is attacked by a contact move, the opposing Pokémon's Ability is turned into Mummy as well.

Skill Set: xxxMean Look - DON'T youYOU walk away from thisthisthis deBATE!
xxxxxxxxxxxxPrevents the foe from switching out.

Skill Set: xxxCurse - This-this is going to HURT. It's going to hurt you MOREmore-more.
xxxxxxxxxxxxThe user loses half of its max HP to put a curse on the target. The target loses ¼ of its max HP at the end of each turn.

Skill Set: xxxPayback - DO you understand my PAINpainpain now?
xxxxxxxxxxxxInflicts damage. Its power doubles to 100 if the user attacks after the target, or if the target switches out.

Skill Set: xxxProtect - THIS is my mismisMISSION. Don't you dare STOP me-ME.
xxxxxxxxxxxxProtects the user from all effects of moves that target it during the turn it is used, including damage.

Chapter 01: The End

xxxxxxxxxxxxHe remembers the name he was given. He remembers who he was, what he did. He has no ignorance to hide behind - his sins are there, and he knows it. He knew what he did was probably wrong before he even did it, and he thought he had the right justification.

xxxxxxxxxxxxWhether he cares now is a different question.

xxxxxxxxxxxxI am. He is. If there is name that one should call him now if they absolutely must, let it be Sum. I am, I am and nothing else.

xxxxxxxxxxxxHe also was. He was a young man, a scholar, a student, with a heart tied to his first love, nature, and his second, knowledge. One event pushed him off the edge. One event pushed him too far.

xxxxxxxxxxxxIn less metaphorical terms, the human that Sum had once been was a scholarly young man from a low-middle class family on his way to a higher education. Like most children in his community (if not the world), he wanted to be a Pokemon Trainer - but for many, naive dreams like that fall apart in the face of reality, and that's what happened to Sum. He and his Pokemon thoroughly enjoyed the eight-year relationship they had together, beginning when he was ten, but he figured: the world still needs doctors, police, teachers, professors, researchers, not just for Pokemon but for humans as well.

xxxxxxxxxxxxBesides, he wasn't exactly the most competent trainer anyway - he enjoyed the relationship and closer understanding of nature rather than the battles, but he felt that only he would really benefit from that; his Pokemon wouldn't be able to get stronger or grow the way they should. Perhaps his Pokemon deserved to go to a better home, with a Trainer who maybe had more money to spend on good medicine for them or someone with more experience. Even better, perhaps they'd be happier back in the wild, back with nature - he wasn't abandoning them of course, he would visit and they would still be friends even if he was going off to college, after all.

xxxxxxxxxxxxThe sad part is that even the notion that they were better off in the wild or otherwise without him as a trainer was naive.

xxxxxxxxxxxxSum released them into healthy habitats before going off to school on his own to study environmental science. Having very little time to even visit his hometown, much less his Pokemon, it would be nine months before he could do so during his vacation. When he came to visit, most of his team was gone, presumably either gone to new Trainers or in the wild, making their own lives. Two of his Pokemon, though, a Plusle and Minun pair he'd released together, he found in the hands of an even worse Trainer, who abused them and pushed them far beyond their limits, only allowing them rest when they were on the verge of collapse.

xxxxxxxxxxxxThere are no words to express his guilt and rage.

xxxxxxxxxxxxHe, of course, in his scrawny body and no team, would not be able to even help them; it was Team Plasma that would end up saving them at his request later - they were the only ones available that could do it, even though he didn't entirely agree with their practices. From that point though, he would draw partly from their philosophy and go off as an independent and more extreme liberator.

xxxxxxxxxxxxTraining his body and switching his focus of study to philosophy, Sum prepared himself for the mission he felt himself destined for - vengeance, upon all those who would abuse Pokemon for their own gain. By the time he graduated (with honors and high marks), Sum was incredibly strong and far less naive, with an increasingly burning hate for human society as he became more and more aware of mankind misusing the earth and its creatures for its own gain. The newfound strength he gained became his tool to serve justice and liberate the enslaved; the knowledge he gained, he used to justify his ruthless and violent mission: An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life.

xxxxxxxxxxxxEventually, after six years, the law tracked down what had been a cleverly elusive serial killer and thief (he preferred the terms "punisher" and "liberator", of course). The law was equally as unforgiving toward him as he was towards those he brought down "justice" upon - he was swiftly expelled from life.



Chapter 02: The Middle

xxxxxxxxxxxxWhat happened between the shutting of his old eyes and the opening of his new ones is blurry - something, happened, and it was beautiful and terrifying - like a vague but powerful dream, the feelings lingered but the memory vanished.

xxxxxxxxxxxxThat is the catch about being a Yamask - one remembers their life as a human, but that doesn't mean their memories as a Pokemon are always quite so clear. Which brings us to the real prologue of Sum's story, the now-missing catalyst that sent him on his quest...

xxxxxxxxxxxxCapturing Sum was almost embarrassingly easy; when he woke up in his new "body", he recognized that he was now a Pokemon but had no idea how he was supposed to fight or use his moves, and he woke up some place a long way from where he last remembered being (then again, his body probably had to be disposed of somehow), conveniently where a young, budding Pokemon Trainer was looking for a new addition to her team.

xxxxxxxxxxxxQuite obviously he was not happy with this Trainer and was not afraid to show it when he came out of his Pokeball for the first time. Though not of ill-will, Anna made many, many newbie mistakes, over and over again - she was one of those sorts of people who perhaps needed to learn things the hard way. Sum scolded her often (at least, as best as he could with only motions and a very small vocal vocabulary to express himself with) and it can be said that he was somewhat hostile to her at first, seeing the young Trainer as an overly naive simpleton with an annoying amount of childish hope.

xxxxxxxxxxxxStill, as her experience grew, so did her relationship with her Pokemon and her ability to properly take care of and train them. Within a year, Sum grew to tolerate her; in another, he accepted her as a vague friend; in a few more, he would eventually grow to love her as the closest human friend he'd ever had in both of his lives. By that point, Sum wouldn't have been able to imagine life without Anna - her kindness and innocence had somehow pierced through his anger and bitterness toward humans, opening his eyes to a different side of mankind's story.

xxxxxxxxxxxx...It's terrifying and amazing, how it only takes a few moments to destroy what takes years to create.

xxxxxxxxxxxxTo this day, Sum does not know if Anna and the rest of the team is alright or even alive; he had been forcibly liberated from her, taken away by ruthless, violent revolutionaries - people that he and other liberators had inspired, people that he had once been like. It was quite possibly the most painful day in his life and un-life, perhaps even more painful than the day he witnessed his own Pokemon being abused by the other Trainer.

xxxxxxxxxxxxAs soon as he was released in a strange place by his "liberators", he looked at his mask and cried - not out of missing his old life but out of wanting to take everything back, wanting to undo what he had done, as he realized exactly the sort of pain he had brought upon all the Pokemon he'd liberated and the Trainers he liberated them from. Sum realized, he this because he'd made judgments about them - deemed everyone incompetent, stupid, unworthy - without understanding the other side of the story, without really having ever known or experienced the goodness of mankind until now.

xxxxxxxxxxxxHis mask had never been so heavy.

xxxxxxxxxxxxSum wandered, trying to find his way back to where he was separated from Anna - by the time he did get there, it had already been a few weeks; no one in their right mind would stay there for that long. So from that point he wandered across the country, hoping that by some crazy chance he might find her again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxEventually, though, he forgot why he wandered, he forgot why he was trying to help others along the way - perhaps it was too painful for him to remember the reason why he went off on his quest for redemption. All he knows now is the burning rage and sorrow that lingered after, begging him to seek vengeance once more on others.

xxxxxxxxxxxxBut... something -- is missing.



Chapter 03: The Beginning

xxxxxxxxxxxxMusharna came across the embittered and lost Yamask by chance, who had wandered himself into knocking out under a tree, exhausted from his traveling. In his deep slumber, Sum's dreams were wrapped in pink smoke as he was visited by a... man(?) also wrapped in pink.

xxxxxxxxxxxxIt was as if Musharna had been both curious and regretful - doubtful, even worried - of what he had done. As he would learn from asking of the nature of his death, Musharna had returned humanity to what had once been a monster of a man and what was now a spiteful and deeply wounded spirit - yet, there is hope, even if only a glimmer.

xxxxxxxxxxxx"Lifelifelife and friendship are things I NEVERnevernever was supposed to steal away, even though society did so to me. I only wantedWANTED to makemakemaa-ake things RIGHT... And I STILL do."

xxxxxxxxxxxxThe rest is but a blur, impossible to recall but -- but there was something, something that was imperative for him to remember, something out of his hand's reach like the man-creature that vanished from his dreams as suddenly as he'd appeared, to whom Sum reached out in desperation, infinitely hungry for an answer, a clue, something to guide him on his new mission, the answer that he already knew but didn't - and still doesn't yet - know. And when he did, Sum shot up out of his sleep, with his red eyes snapping open and the first thing he saw was his feet. Human, feet - then, human hands, that touched his human face. The same as the one he had so long ago but -- different.

xxxxxxxxxxxxBetween gritted teeth and behind clenched fists came the first human words he'd spoken in a long, long time. "I, I supPOSE I have WORKworkwork to do."

Phew! I hope he's up to snuff! First quest in Entra and I'm still very, very iffy about Sum's character as well as the RP standards here at DoE. I had quite a bit of trouble fleshing his personality and history out, and it is not very concrete at the moment; he is still rather vague to me as a character and I have yet to entirely solidify who he is/what he's doing/why he's doing it, which is why some parts of his personality/history may be purposely left somewhat blurry/vague until I can fully make sense out of his character, who is often a sort of self-contradictory type of guy with an equally conflicting and paradoxical view/philosophy on life.

Anyway, I don't care so much about "playing a character that is/isn't the way I want it" so long as the general "redemption" theme remains-ish, since that's the center of his entire story - pretty much my goal here is to just write a good story. I would be more than happy to take suggestions, especially to help me better clarify his character. ^^

Ahhh okay I see - dont worry, it totally makes sense, and thanks for letting me know! The whole variance/static stuff/subtle visual changes to represent his mental state of being was based on the assumption that he was still technically dead. xD so yeah, I'm cool with that, he's not totally set in stone after all and I'm pretty flexible when it comes to character concepts, even if I did remove the trait completely the change doesent really affect his personal character too much (which is really what's more important to me anyway), so I'll go and change that up ASAP~

Thankee, Epee~

Moving this to approval.

For you ma'dear~