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[twistedempathy]

PLAYER INFO

❥ Name/Handle: Infy
❥ Contact: Infychu | Infychu#4061 @ Discord
❥ Over 18?: Y
❥ Other Characters: N/A

CHARACTER INFO

❥ Name: Will
❥ Canon: Pokémon
❥ Canon Point: Endgame HeartGold/SoulSilver, after the protagonist becomes Champion
❥ Fandom OC Approval: N/A

❥ History: Will is coming from the game version of canon. However, because his background isn't explored there, I'll be filling that in from the manga--in broad strokes only, to avoid altering the games' plots and characters.

In the manga:

• Will was kidnapped at a young age by a mysterious individual within Team Rocket known only as The Masked Man. Over the course of that year, a number of other children were also abducted to be trained alongside him.
• In spite of claims that he joined Team Rocket willingly, he was likely manipulated into coming along without a fight, given how much more easily young children can be persuaded and lied to. Efforts to escape being quickly and brutally crushed reinforce the idea that this isn't entirely true.
• Will grew up mentored extensively by The Masked Man alongside his peers, groomed and indoctrinated to be his perfect minions. This possibly extended into literal brainwashing, as The Masked Man demonstrated the potential to mind control minions from afar. It's unclear exactly what this training entailed--but given that they were a part of Team Rocket, (and that awful clown outfit he wears) it can be assumed at least burglary and battling were part of it.
• I'm going to assume Will escaped during a similarly catastrophic defeat for Team Rocket in the games--namely, during the chaos surrounding FireRed/LeafGreen's protagonist crushing and disbanding Team Rocket.

In the games:

• Will is a fairly new addition to the Elite Four, as he's spent some time traveling the world and training to grow stronger.
• The events of FireRed/LeafGreen are meant to occur three years before the events of HeartGold/SoulSilver begin, but there's no telling how long the protagonist's journey takes. Based on that, I'll assume Will probably spent two or three years traveling the world, laying low as a normal trainer to try and avoid attention and recapture--by Team Rocket, the police, or anyone else.
• Eventually, his power and ambition earned him a place in the upper echelons of the Pokémon League, as the juniormost member of Johto's Elite Four.
• I say Johto's because the protagonist gets to be declared the Champion of Johto and Kanto on two separate occasions, implying there's probably still two groups, even if you don't play through them both? (I am so, so sorry, Bruno and Lance. You all were probably hiring to try and make sure none of you had to pull double duty like that.)
• Thankfully, Lance gets to only have one job again soon enough, as HeartGold/SoulSilver's protagonist comes through and defeats both the Elite Four and Johto's Champion handily. (Sorry, Bruno. You need to hire one more replacement before you can catch a break.) I'll assume Will's been an Elite somewhere around a year, give or take, before the Championship changes hands.
• Yay having a new boss! Not-so-yay, they literally immediately go wander off to gallivant around Kanto! (You're just as bad as the one who went to be a hermit on Mt. Silver. You realize that, right?) Seriously, what are they going to do if a challenger gets through all four of them before the protagonist gets back? Good thing they all have their cell phone number, so they can beg the new Champion to hurry back and defend their title whenever necessary.

❥ CRAU?: N/A

❥ Personality:

• Extra AF: Literally everything about Will is carefully cultivated to reflect this, from his clothes to his behavior. His current everyday clothing is formal evening wear of the sort someone might wear to an old-fashioned masquerade ball, and he wears a mask everywhere he goes. His behavior is spirited and melodramatic, full of big, grandiose gestures, mischief, and playfulness. It's rare to see him not doing everything he can to avoid tedium and have fun; he seems to love capering around, posing, and making faces. In short, he's a dramatic man of mercurial whims whose behavior and moods run towards extremes--the more energetic and upbeat, the better.
• Strong Willed: Of course, that's not to say that Will can't be serious and determined when he has a mind to be. His battle quotes best illustrate this; once Will sets his mind to a goal, he dedicates himself to it. He's trained and traveled for years to become the best he can be, a strong trainer worthy of the title of Elite. He battles hard to improve himself even now that he's reached his goal, sights set ever higher--he expresses surprise if a player tries to free from battle after struggling so hard to reach the Indigo Plateau, refuses to lose heart even when the tides turn against him during a fight, and is only politely apologetic if he wins.
• Opportunistic: Will is cunning, resourceful, decisive, willing to take risks--and yes, ruthless and cruel as well. He's willing to take every opportunity and use every advantage at his disposal to achieve his goals, and unless he's actually making an effort to stay on the straight and narrow, he doesn't particularly care how clean or moral the means to his ends are. This is shown most clearly in the manga, when he incapacitates a trainer by exploiting their phobias and psychically immerses them in the memories of past traumas. Even beyond that, though, his choice to escape Team Rocket reflects this as well; not only does he hide in plain sight by traveling as a normal trainer, but he manages to turn this strategy into security by growing strong enough to acquire a position of power and influence as an Elite.
• Contradictory: In the end, it all comes down to masks. Will is a man of contradictions--either to hide behind and use, to embrace, or struggle to reconcile. He's so theatrical and performative, so dedicated to his roles, that it's hard for him to be genuine and authentic--indeed, he may not even know how to be, or what his own true self is. He's impulsive but disciplined, childish and playful but ambitious and driven, cruel but overwhelmingly empathic, animated and expressive but secretive and hides his face. Somewhere between being defined by others' expectations and the limitless possibilities of the future, Will is trying to figure out who he is and wants to be. And if that takes a while, or means different things at different times--well, that's okay, too. Maybe if he tries on enough different masks, he'll find his own voice in the process. My headcanon, pull it all together bullet point, obviously.

❥ Abilities: Some extrapolation here, but I don't think it's anything too wild.

• Acrobatics: Will probably had a reason for wearing that clown suit, other than as a way to look extra ridiculous, baffle and annoy his opponents, and highlight how Eccentric he is. He's probably pretty damn light on his feet, excellent at feats like balancing and tumbling. All the better to break and enter with, right?
• Thieving: Growing up in a criminal syndicate probably means Will is pretty accomplished at various types of criminal mischief. Sleight of hand and pickpocketing, lockpicking, breaking and entry, sneaking around, and the like are most likely part of this.
• Strategy: Like most Pokémon trainers, Will is an excellent sportsman, coach, leader, and strategist. He observes, studies, and actively prepares for his opponents, and favors strategies involving crippling opponents with status effects before hammering at them while they're helpless. He's adept at judging a situation and making snap decisions, calm and bold even in a crisis or losing fight, and gives decisive orders. He's gifted in developing rapports and working with others to help bring out their true strength and potential.
• Psychic: Nearly all Psychic type trainers are psychic themselves, and Will appears to be no exception. Between a battle quote declaring he felt a critical hit land, and a sprite levitating a Pokéball in his hand, Will can evidently use some degree of both empathy and telekinesis--and judging by the precision with which he knows exactly how to traumatize a character in the manga with painful memories and crippling phobias, odds are pretty good he has some degree of telepathy as well.

❥ Extras:

• Will will officially pledge his allegiance to Ainea. However, given that it's 99.99% likely that polytheism is extremely alive and well in the Pokémon world, he'll be very conscientious about honoring all three of the other gods, as well.
• Will's three items will be three Pokémon: Xatu, Flareon, and Chansey. He needs his signature Pokémon, and I can't not bring a big warm fluffy puppy to cuddle, or what amounts to an embodiment of pure fluff distributing magically delicious happy eggs.

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