PLAYER INFO
Name: Samm
Contact Information:
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dreamoftrees, AIM – AurianEnasni, Time Zone: Pacific! (GMT+8)
Characters Played: n/a
CHARACTER INFO
Character Name: Duke Pantarei
Character Canon: Tales of Vesperia
History: A wiki link and a synopsis. He doesn't have much, but this is generally what I use:
Duke was a noble of Zaphias, one fairly important if by family alone, and used to be a knight. He was at least on friendly terms with Alexei during his travels with Elucifur, because he helped him out on occasion, and Duke was the one who returned Raven's body and Hermes' notes to Alexei. Sometime between that and when 'Schwann' was created, Duke and Elucifur won the war, Elucifur was murdered, and Duke got really angry, resulting in his theft of Dein Nomos.
He spent the ten years after the war up to meeting the party in Deidon Hold wandering the world, conversing with wildlife and Entelexeia ('conversing' is a bad word to use there. 'in the company of' is probably better) and calming Aer Krene as if he was an Entelexeia, of which there are few left.
During the events of Tales of Vesperia, Duke is seen still wandering around. He is often lagging behind the party, at least a little, and can be found making cryptic remarks over something that happened while they were there not too long before. He saves them while protecting the world at Keiv Moc and Gasfarost, only to resume cryptic commentary at Ehmead Hill, Nordopilica, the Weasand of Cados. He is both helpful and decidedly not at Yormgen, then helps the party once more at Baction, backing down for a time. Duke moves from vaguely helpful, kind-of jerkish random man to threat after saving Yuri from drowning at Zaude. It is not long after that the heroes discover that events of the Great War, and thus his reason for trying to off humanity. They face Duke at Tarqaron, and take three fights to end up winning over him. Their power isn't enough to complete their own plan, and Duke, having some sense beat into him, takes up what power he can gather again to aid him.
AU History:
Duke was born to a relatively prosperous family, although his alignment with Kindred Spirit seemed a bit more out of place, with his Engineer and Analyst parents. Regardless of their confusion, they gave him the best education they could. Duke excelled at studies, but not so much people interactions.
He started out as a Ranger, because curiosity had him interested in what was outside of the walls. While he enjoyed that, exploring and learning that way, he swiftly found that he was far more interested in the salvage brought in from under the city than going out where all the Pokémon ran wild. It was also around this time that his parents were growing rather elderly and frail, so he figured maybe he ought to stay in the city for a while.
While he retains the knowledge he gained of survival, he shifted his focus. Becoming a researcher worked out well for him, to the point he has to be reminded (usually by engineers, other researchers, or his Pokémon-) to actually go eat and sleep. Or, well, eat and sleep somewhere that isn't with a pile of books. With his parents dead, he had less reason, he thought, to not focus on work. It took his Flabébé to finally shake him out of that mindset, with a scare about the Pokémon's health.
Since then, while he has learned to balance personal and Pokémon care with work, he still hasn't managed to work in many people interactions beyond those he has while working with others.
Canon Personality:
At a first glance, the response would be "What personality?"
The man is quiet, reserved, and abrupt with his comings and leavings. He's distant, and cold. Occasionally rather rude; "Those matters exceed your comprehension." isn't something one tells Rita Mordio without receiving a Fireball, but Duke went and did it. He's very socially awkward, occasionally thinking aloud in the middle of "conversations". He keeps his distance even from those who he has talked to many times; rarely asking for any information that is not relevant to the situation. He refers to people as "you", or by descriptors of their person when he cannot simply stare in their direction and be understood that way. He doesn't reply to greetings and decides when the conversation is over, acting upon that by simply turning and leaving without a further word.
Duke is confident and controlled. He carries himself with an air of confidence, one that Yuri picks up on in Keiv Moc; an odd sort of meditative serenity and an almost militaristic way of holding himself. The few times he holds blade in hand, it is always held point to the ground. This relaxed position speaks of his confidence in his skill to react in time to any threat. He never moves at a speed faster than a walk, his hands never leave loose fists from his sides, his expression barely flickers from a faint, blank frown, and his voice never rises. He doesn't swear, verbally or physically lash out, or seem to have a temper at all. Insults, teasing, and sarcasm simply roll right off him, if he even recognizes what they're supposed to be.
"A single life cannot be privileged over the fate of the world"; through his own words, Duke shows himself to be a man of action and the idea of "the many before the one". Unlike others who think that way, his 'one' is always less important than the many; although in Duke's case, the "many" is Terca Lumireis itself. He believes that even he, a human who lives in harmony with nature, might one day cause Terca Lumireis harm, and this showed in his plan for the removal of all humans. He was perfectly willing to kill himself, and every other human, to protect the world. Duke's opinion of himself, other than that he may cause harm to Terca Lumireis, is never stated. He holds himself with confidence, is clearly aware of his strength and power, and attempts to keep himself removed from humans, but remains aware that he is one.
"Words are cheap" The death of Elucifur taught him that words can be said, but that doesn't truly change anything. Elucifur said he would simply watch, and the humans nodded and smiled, then killed him out of fear of the power Elucifur swore he would not use. This doesn't mean that Duke won't keep his word, however, just that anything said to him by a human - any promise made to him by a human - is taken with a good deal of suspicion that it won't be held to. He's a man who removes threats when they become them, does rather than says, and doesn't care about "consequences". Twice, his actions in calming Aer Krene and destroying Hermes Blastia have saved the party, a band of the disliked humans. Had he but waited a little longer in both Keiv Moc and Ghasfarost, the party might have been wiped out, but Duke thought the threat to the planet was not worth waiting longer for removing said threats.
Despite being a man of action, he doesn't take any joy from fighting. Killing isn't something he enjoys, and he won't unless he absolutely has to. However, if he is to fight, and fight at his full capacity, he would prefer to not leave any witnesses to his strength. Knowing exactly how powerful Elucifur is what drove humans into slaying the Entelexeia. It was due to fear, so Duke would rather people underestimated him, and thus avoid a similar fate.
Avoidance is Duke's answer to "fight-or-flight", as he'd rather not get into that situation in the first place. Duke will not intentionally start any conflict, and he will, at first, try to walk away if someone starts one with him. As with his emotions, one has to reach a certain point with him before he'll retaliate, or insult Elucifur or Entelexeia to gain the same reaction.
If someone can get past his shell, they may see him differently. Duke is loyal. If he joins his cause with yours, if your morals/goals match his, if he likes you, you have someone who will stick with you through thick and thin until he witnesses a blatant breach of trust. Duke's trust has been a fragile thing since Elucifur's death, and repairing it for the sake of friendship may be the work of a lifetime. Regaining his trust after breaking it is a feat that stands close to impossible.
Despite his stony, normally emotionless exterior, Duke finds amusement in the subtle humors. He finds ironic words amusing, or at least sounds amused, and may even call the one being ironic out in a way. "So I am the only stubborn one?" was his response to Yuri's commenting on his stubbornness, complete with a rising, almost incredulous tone. However, he has no appreciation for Raven's sort of humor, referring to it as foolishness and clowning.
Despite how jaded he is about what to expect from humans, he manages to be a little naive about the workings inside human society. He understands the chain of command, and some of the workings of the upper-class households, but otherwise very little beyond his pessimistic views of imminent betrayal and inability to learn from the past. Part of this is his odd thought patterns. He melds animal-like behaviors with more human ones, understanding more base, linear thoughts but having trouble with the more convoluted human patterns. He understands killing for food, for imminent threat removal, and for defense, but not for many of the other reasons, such as over Blastia or for resources. Some of his body language is much closer to animalistic than it is to humans – in humans, tilting one's head down is normally a sign of submission while tilting back is more of a haughty stance, and Duke does the opposite. Baring one's throat is a sign of submission, and lowering one's head more aggressive. He is as curious, and as picky about what he'll be curious about, than any cat, and has the single minded tenacity of a terrier. Because of this merge of more animal-like patterns and human patterns, he has a hard time understanding how to deal with people. Mixed with his expectations for betrayal, and ten years removed from society, he's a social mess.
Duke does not like people, simply based on the fact they are human. Still, even after realizing his mistakes, he has a great deal of trouble trusting just any human. Although he finds that the human is friends with one he sort-of trusts, like a member of Brave Vesperia, he will be more likely to attempt to try. If someone manages to get close to him, he might show a bit of 'closeness' in his odd, quiet fashion. Duke has lost someone very important to him, and doesn't like how that felt, nor does he want to experience that again. He'd do everything in his power to prevent losing someone else, even if that means, for the most part, avoiding getting too close to anyone else. While he does ally himself with Khroma and has been working with her since Elucifur's death, she still finds his motives a mystery.
One thing that separates Duke from the heroes is that he knows his limits and doesn't attempt to push them. This isn't the sort of "this project got hard, I give up" sort of quitting one sees in modern settings, but the sort that when he feels that he can do no further, he only spends a short amount of time trying anyway before he scraps that plan and throws himself in a different direction. Raven comments on this when they try to convince him not to steal the life of all humans at Tarqaron. Part of the reason Duke quits so easily is because he expects no help, doesn't trust humans enough to try to get them to aid him, and thus has only a limited amount of back up plans and allies.
Religion on Terca Lumireis is a vague thing. There are mentions of The Goddess, but there are no real church systems, or many more mentions of anything beyond a hell, and someplace better. The Shrine of Baction seems to indicate that humans once worshiped Entelexeia as gods. Neither of these are what Duke follows, and by his own words, "there is no such thing." In reply to Yuri commenting that their repeated meetings were of fate. As a man who has walked more of his world than any other human, has spoken with the Entelexeia and flown with them, Duke does not hold them to be deities. As traveled and learned as he is, he also knows the truth behind tales and legends of the protective powers of Brave Vesperia and the true role of the Child of the Full Moon. He believes in the balance of nature, which should stay as it is, with Entelexeia governing the Aer.
Duke used to be a man whose sole motivation was the protection of Terca Lumireis, his promise to Elucifur. Everything he did was to protect, to preserve, his planet, to keep his promise to Elucifur. He lived for that promise, and nearly willingly died for it. He has little in the way of short term goals beyond survival, no long term goals beyond the next Aer Krene, finding the next abnormality to deal with. Now that the Adephagos, and Aer threats as a whole, have been dealt with, Duke has little to do.
Despite his former occupation as a Knight of the Empire, Duke has no respect for human laws anymore. This does not mean he breaks them to break them, he simply doesn't care that they exist. He still follows some of the basic, common sense ones, laws he refers to as the laws of Terca Lumireis. Flynn accuses him of think himself above the law, and as Duke has cast aside his ties to the Empire, he most definitely doesn't hold himself to their laws.
He is a slightly situational person. It depends on what he is dealing with, who he is dealing with, and what he could gain to aid Terca Lumireis. Perhaps the best description, and probably the one Brave Vesperia would give if anyone asked them to describe him, is that "Duke is Duke". He's contradictory, yet not quite hypocritical.
AU Deviation:
There are a lot of changes from the canon Duke to the AU one.
Like in canon, Duke is usually reserved, quiet, and a bit abrupt. There is more he can learn from listening than interrupting, and there is more he can do if he speaks quickly and without much flourishes. While not quite distant, he isn't friendly to anyone who isn't a Pokémon, or someone he has talked to a lot. The only things he actually seems excited about are projects that might come to him, or he has already worked on, occasionally food, and his Pokémon. He unfortunately does not have a good memory for names, so he will go '... and you, over there, with the coat' rather than hedge about names.
Duke does still carry himself with confidence, although not nearly so much as his counterpart. He knows he can at least survive outside the walls, which isn't exactly something that just everyone can do, but he is fully aware he isn't the best at that. His ability to communicate better with Pokémon plays into that—he is much happier that he doesn't have quite as much to worry about what his partner is wanting. The confidence also continues to when he is researching—he knows what he is doing in here, or at least he knows how all of this works and what sorts of results it can give. Outside of work, he is not quite so collected with his presence. He holds himself more like he just wants to get something done so he can do something else, and often that is get his food so he can go back to work, to sleep, or spend time with his Pokémon.
Duke has no reason to really think of the idea of "the many before the one/the few", but he understands it in the "there is no I in team" fashion. He isn't so jaded about humanity, although the story of the Savoir does have him wondering occasionally if they really should be digging all this stuff up and using it. For the most part, whoever is working with him at the moment is "team", but he will always pay attention to the wants of the Pokémon attached to anyone.
A major difference between the canon Duke and this AU is that he was never betrayed. He never had a best friend who he would have rather died than lose, or at least, he has never lost said best friend. If there is any issue he has with trusting the words of others, it is simply that he can expect things to be late once in a while. He still doesn't like to lie, particularly because he always felt like his father could tell.
While he was out and part of the Delvers, he never really liked having to fight. He was moderately good at it, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it at all. He's honestly glad he isn't part of that anymore, but he does spend time with his Pokémon to help them grow, because they are more interested in it. That, and he figures in some weird way, fighting helps them grow, the way growing up and getting a job and whatnot helps humans grow.
Duke would still rather avoid fighting, although mostly because that is time he could spend working. While not entirely a doormat, he is more likely to clam up and let someone vent, probably while quietly writing down his arguments rather than risk something turning into a shouting match.
What never will change about Duke is that he is loyal. If he gets attached to someone, it will take a rather traumatic event for him to stop caring. He still doesn't attach easily – in the midst of a project, if his coworkers were to change, he would notice more because he would call for a name that he finally learned and get no answer, than because there were different people around him.
Rather than having a stony exterior with a vaguely humorless interior, Duke just takes things too literally, or things go right over his head. He does not do well with social, sorry.
He understands workplace chain of command and expedition chain of command, but not quite the hierarchy of normal union life. This mostly is due him spending so much time inside the workplace. Even having a rough understanding of Pokémon language has him occasionally bleeding the body language styles together, which really doesn't help him outside of work.
Duke hasn't experienced great loss, although his parents are probably either very old or dead at this point, he wasn't quite as attached to them as he was his first Pokémon. Losing parents as an adult is uncomfortable enough, losing anything more important is something that he would rather not do, and rather not have anyone else do, which is part of how he can focus so well for so long at work.
He still pushes quite a bit, but now he knows he can go to others for help when he gets stuck an frustrated. Duke will stick and struggle with it until he gets headaches, and probably sleep on it for a day before going for help, but he knows he can.
Another both minor and major difference is Duke's view on religion. His opinion of the Savoir and religion surrounding her is 'Thank the gods someone had sense that long ago'. He doesn't focus terribly much on it, but he knows that it is a very important bit of history at the very least, and a rather obvious cautionary tale of what they should not do on top of that.
Much like his canon, Duke has a slight problem with multiple motivations. He has become one of those people who could be described as 'married to his job', even with his insistence on spending time with his Pokémon. They are something that he would not mind interruptions from.
Very unlike his canon, he holds to the laws of the Union as laws. He hasn't seen a conflict with what he wants to do and what the laws will allow, and thus he has no problems following them.
Basically, Duke could be considered to be from an "earlier canonpoint" than the OU Duke I wrote the personality for (like... 10-15 years earlier), and then spent that missing time maturing like... a normal, if somewhat married-to-the-job, person.
Canon Abilities:
- Duke can somehow get along with what are considered "monsters", creatures that attack humans on sight, and keep the majority of the population of Terca Lumireis locked inside their barrier-covered cities.
- Swordsman. He was a knight, so he's pretty good at traditional sword-work. He has higher agility and physical defense than anything else, which really suggests that he subscribes to "you can't hit me while I move like this" sorts of fighting.
- Hermit (survival skills, self-sufficient in terms of food, shelter, clothing upkeep)
- Mage. Dear god, he is a good mage. Not only does he craft spells (most notably the ones he uses with Dein Nomos (appears like telepathy), his formula to steal the life force of all humans on the planet, and Guilty Resolver (A new spell for this series)) but out of the available elements for his canon, he uses a good majority of them at high tier spells. Fire, Wind + Fire (effectively 'Lightning'), Light, Dark, Non-Elemental, and Healing magic are available (and his Wind + Fire spell is one that is altered from a Wind spell, so its arguable that he can use Wind spells as well). Not only that, but he is so skilled with magic that he regains the TP (the version of "mana" or "magic" points of most of the Tales Series) that he just consumed after his attack fades (I usually have this as a part of his spellcrafting, that he found the extra to his spells and streamlined them, and partially that he is so in-tune with magic he can find the scraps left over and gather them up to use them again)
- His Magical Item is Dein Nomos – a sword that is supposed to be the indication of an emperor's right to rule, the blade has high magic abilities, holding a formula (spell / enchantment) known as Rizomata. The Rizomata formula allows for direct manipulation of magic, without needing a Bodhi Blastia (the normal casting aid). Dein Nomos also is able to disperse or gather large quantities of ambient magic, and apparently changes color, shape, and sharpness depending on its wielder. (color and sharpness are seen when Duke lends the sword to Yuri Lowell – the blade goes from red and white to blackish purple, and is not a particularly good weapon for Yuri to use. On the other hand, Duke is the end boss with that blade, and it hurts. )
Enlightened Abilities: A Kindred Soul, with Psychic/Steel alignment. He does fall into too many elements
At the start, Duke retains many of his canon mundane abilities – he's fast, he's hard to shake out of concentration (a resistance to flinching), and he hits fairly heavy for being a skinny man. Most of his Steel type alignment goes into reinforcing whatever metal he is holding at the time – blades he wields are sturdier / harder to break. He has a minor awareness of metal (is it moving toward-away, is it big-small), is skilled at telling apart metals after handling them, and can move magnetic metals to or from his torso so long as they don't weigh more than he does. At this point, he can use his psychic abilities to move things under the size of a chair, so long as they would be within a normal sized room, and various blast-like abilities. (These weight limits would slowly increase.)
After reaching his first evolution, Duke's endurance is enhanced, and he can choose to dampen his sense of pain (although never enough to completely deaden the area). His ability to identify metal is also further enhanced, enabling him to locate metal that is covered by dirt, or forest debris (by a foot or so, easy digging). He develops a healing ability (like Recover) that he can target others with, as well as a variation of Metal Sound that functions a bit like Bloody Howling with some nasty sharp metal fragments. The limits on his ability to move things expands to not much more than his weight (psychically), but six or so objects can combine to that limit, and any metal, magnetic or not. He can make glowing letters appear in the air, usually by painting them there with his fingers.
At his second evolution, Duke will gain abilities with meteors, similar to Meteor Mash but usually chucked from a distance. Finally he starts melding his steel abilities – sharper for longer, sturdier structures – with his psychic ones – moving things at a distance. While it will likely tire him greatly at first, he can start making things like shrapnel tornadoes, or moving a few blades in different ways at once. At this point he can harden his skin to reduce damage to flesh on will, although this has a not very good chance of working exactly when he wants it when he gets it, and his knowledge of where metal is to him is enhanced. The patches hardened are not terribly large, nor hardened for terribly long. His ability to move things psychically would continue increase to a max of three times his weight.
A note on the weight limits, particularly those involving metal-abilities alone. Technically pushing or pulling against something heavier than he is would just result in him moving about, which isn't always the desired effect. This would include things that are securely anchored to something heavier than he is.
He will be terrible with the crazy mind-messing with side of Psychic power (unless someone manages to make him really interested and work him through it). He likes to keep his head inside his head, thnx.
I would give him "Dein Nomos", which would be a psychic-typed sword. This doesn't really mean much in terms of damage, just that he doesn't always have to be holding onto the blade.
Starter Pokémon:
Flabébé (Laulyse) on a redish orienpet lily (this means that you can probably smell the Flabébé coming. Oriental and Trumpet lilies are the strongest smelling, and then they got crossbred and... welp. )
Notes/Special Considerations:
SAMPLES
First-Person:
-What would you say the role of Pokémon is in your life?
The role of Pokémon... Well, they're... [ And now he frowns, then smiles a little awkwardly. ] Laulyse might be something more of a babysitter, but the friendly ones are great allies, and the unfriendly ones are... are between potential allies, and impediments. They could become allies, but most of the time they make research harder, because getting to the things to research-
Sorry. I'll stop there. [ He could ramble a little, but he said what he needed to, he thinks. ]
-What do you feel your role in Union is?
Mine? Mine is probably not to accidentally take out a wall in trying to figure out how we can use some of the old things scavenged up. I guess outside of that, it would just be to be the best ... friend, to the Pokémon that like me?
-What do you seek for humanity’s future?
[ He scratches the side of his head. ] Not to die out would be rather nice. Avoiding repeats would be a good first step to that.
-To what lengths would you go to rescue your allies if they were lost in the wilderness?
Uhm. [ Here is an uneasy smile. Duke might not notice for a while that someone was lost, particularly since he doesn't go out as often as some. But- ] Go ask very nicely for help from rangers, and then anyone else that I know that could help out there? Then I guess it’s a matter of asking questions, and making enough noise that they might notice, without too many wild Pokémon noticing...
[ He trails off in thought – all sorts of details of how they ought to do something, if such a thing happened, before realizing with a bit of a start, he had started answering a different question. ]
Does that answer work? I'm not sure 'what length' that would be. A lot of thought and planning, at the very least?
Third-Person:
-What would you say the most important occupation is within Union?
I think this is a very rude question. Everyone is important. [ But he will think on it for a moment. ]
Both sorts of professors are important because teaching children is important, and so is learning more about the wild ones. Delvers are important because we... well, its hard not to grow, so we need things to enable it. Researchers and Engineers are important because understanding the old things. Smiths are important because .... because! [ He cracks a slight smile, indicating the room and giving the metal things in it a little nudge so they move a little. ]
I don't think I can pick a "most".
-What does the story of the Savior mean to you?
That humans really messed up? Don't think you're better than a Pokémon just because you can do some similar things? Maybe that some of the things we're digging up, we might want to leave be? All of the above? [ He scratches the side of his head, then stops when the Flabébé on the flower in his hair makes scolding noises. ]
I haven't thought about it in a while, but those come to mind.
-What aspects and traits do you respect most in your individual fellow man?
Uhmn. [ This gets a bit of blank staring, then some focused staring at something not visible, then back to blank staring with a start. ]
I can think of things on the whole, and the high levels of cooperation works as both, right?
Ah, sorry. Cooperation, the willingness to, seems to be something I like the best in people.
-What do you look for in the Pokémon with whom you bond?
[ He blinks, looking over his shoulder at Laulyse, who blinks at him back. ]
I can't say I remember what I looked for in her. But in anyone after, I would make sure they get along with Laulyse. It would be nice if they covered weaknesses for each other, though, and I suppose me included.
(And then the rest because I wanted to do these and I am too lazy to take them out)
-What do you think your Pokémon respect most about you?
I have no idea. [ He says it with a weak laugh, while the Flabébé in his hair scolds him. ]
Ignoring that she just tried telling me, I think... that I always make time for them?
-The gods of old have returned. How would you be judged if you were chosen as a representative of humanity?
[ A really blank look. He's never thought about it, beyond a few daydreams in school. ]
I'm sure there are better and worse choices. Ah...
[ He tries to think on it more seriously. ]
It depends on their view of poking into the past. I don't fall too high or too low on the scale of attention I give my Pokémon- [ He's scolded again, clearly the one with him disagrees with that assessment. ] but I try?
-A human has attacked a wild Pokémon who retaliates in defense. How do you respond and whom do you defend?
I would separate them if at all possible, or just stun them both to find out if it was how it looked? But I think siding with the Pokémon has a higher chance of not causing too many problems.
[ He thinks the human might be pissed at him, yes, but if the human had just attacked a Pokémon? That might be too close to the past to be good. That, and he probably has an easier time stopping the violence if he tries to connect to the Pokémon to explain what he was doing, while physically putting himself in the way of the human's attacks. Maybe. Probably. ]
-You are alone and bereft of your Pokémon allies, upon what strengths do you rely on to see yourself safely home?
Ah, well... [ He thinks on that for a little. A self-depreciating smile twitches at his lips. ]
I can sense north? [ And scolded again. ]
Well, if I get hurt, it won't slow me down as much as it might someone else, which is a strength. I know some of the edible plants from talking to Laulyse, which helps... I can float a bit, which will help me run!
-What would you say is your greatest duty, and why?
[ Thoughtful silence starts this off, not blank. ]
Within my work... to learn from the past, and not repeat the mistakes. I'm studying things from a long time ago, who knows what effects they actually had. Why? I guess because someone trusted me enough to not make a huge mess of things, and so I try this way.
-You plunge into the depths of the Old City. What is it that you seek from the past? Treasure, technology, wisdom?
I think my job is required to make me ask "why do I have to seek technology or wisdom". [ Another smile. ]
But ... as much as I would like to go straight for technology, I would rather get wisdom. I'm supposed to find out the way these things can be used, and I can learn that without... accidentally blowing anything up trying to figure it out.
-When encountering a rare and powerful Pokémon, what is most important? Researching it, bonding with it, or defeating it? Why?
Other than making sure I don't smell like food, and thus I won't be attacked? [ A thin smile, his hide is kinda important to have intact for any of those answers. ]
Research would probably be first. If it liked me enough, bond it? But if it wants to be free, that's good.
-What do you do to ensure we never again awaken the wrath of the gods upon humanity?
I, personally, respect all the Pokémon I come across? It helps that... I can hear them? So even the wild ones, I talk to like... like I talk to Laulyse, if a bit less familiar? Usually just a sorry for being here, do you want to fight me to help me grow or do you want to just go, sort of thing. [ How many take him up on that is probably not very high. ]
On a bigger scale, I guess... I'm a little less careful. I am poking about in the past, but I am also reading all I can and studying all I can before trying to make anything old work? So both more careful and less.
-What strengths make you most qualified for your role within Union?
Most qualified? Uh... [ He picks something up, something that glints metallic. ]
I can tell you what this is probably made of just like that? [ He mimes the picking up part again. ]
And I can help out with small tricky things that hands might not be trusted to.
-In your eyes, what is absolutely unforgivable.
Being an ass to Pokémon, bonded or otherwise? Okay, definitely unforgivable to a Pokémon you bonded, or someone else has bonded. But you never know if someone might bond that one later? [ He scratches under an ear. No scolding this time, he remembered how to avoid that sort. ]
And it seems like it could start the road to what happened in the past.
-No Enlightened chooses their abilities - and not all are Enlightened. What type abilities would you most desire to manifest and why?
Past reading things, while in contact with something? That could be a nice aspect to develop. Particularly in my line of work. [ If he could touch something and find out how it was last used? This is a bit of a wistful sigh. ]
It would make things easier, at least. Not that it isn't fun because it is tricky, I think that it might make this boring, but it could be nice.
-What area do you seek to explore? The peaceful forest, in search of new, previously overlooked discoveries; the uncharted caves, in search of the unknown; or the wildest of mountain terrain, in search of danger, adventure, and thrills?
Well, a peaceful forest sounds like I won't really get attacked. Which is a bonus. But others might think that as well, so... Caves, I think.
