Application

[solveforn]

player.

NAME: Sophie
JOURNAL: ponyduh
E-MAIL: horsechestra@gmail.com
CONTACT INFO: ponyduh
CHARACTERS PLAYED: N/A

character.

CHARACTER NAME: Natural Harmonia Gropius (Goes by "N")
SERIES: Pokemon Black
CANON POINT: End of the storyline
APPEARANCE: Boop. He's relatively tall, standing at 5'11". Unknown age, appears to be mid to late teens.
DESIRED CLASS & REASONING:

Blade Brandier. Aside from it being the most aesthetically suitable class for a "hero of legend" and a decent match for N's overall appearance as is, it also functionally suits N's battle style from home. While he did not fight himself, his battling was balanced with a wide variety of different types of Pokemon, who could be physical fighters or special attack fighters.

PERSONALITY:

NOTE: N is coming from Pokemon Black Version, meaning that he is the "Hero of Ideals" and so he is searching for "ideals" instead of "truth" as he would be in White. In this application, I will be referring to the Main Character as a male, as well as any IC conversations that may just go that direction, but it can feasibly be retconned if a female MC applies to the game.

N is the king of Team Plasma, and was raised with only Pokemon at his side for the vast majority of his life. He grew up only hearing the voices of pained and hurt Pokemon, and from them he learned how to hear what Pokemon were saying, coming to understand their words. And as the only Pokemon he ever met were either entirely independent of human influence or had been sorely wronged by them, he was very heavily influenced and became incredibly misanthropic.

Growing up with Pokemon instead of with humans affected N in a very dramatic way. He has difficulty communicating with people on any sort of normal basis, speaking far too quickly and carrying a bizarre air of superiority. He knows that he is significantly more intelligent than anyone else, and that makes it very difficult for him to accept another opinion that differs from his own. Something specific has to stand out to him in order for him to consider their stance. His behaviors are, at many a time, very much like an animal's. He is earnest and energetic, he is frank and not deceitful, and he is very emotive, though more with body language and tone than directly with words.

When N battles with his Pokemon, he does not like it in full. He feels as though he is using them to suit his own needs, like any other trainer he's encountered, but likely does not go against their desire to want to help him. As Pokemon are naturally fighters, it is not necessarily that they are harmed in a fight that upsets N. Though that is a major factor, since he hates seeing his friends in pain, he detests the idea more that they are being used by him and often lets them leave, evidenced by the fact that he never has the same Pokemon in his party twice (aside from a Klinklang, arguably, who might have evolved from a Klink in a previous battle). He does not refer to his party as "his Pokemon", instead calling them "my friends". This way of befriending the Pokemon that travel with him shows how gentle and affectionate he can be, though in his own bizarre ways of showing it, referring at one moment to equations and absolutes and the next minute scolding Professor Juniper for applying labels and categories to Pokemon and effectively "dehumanizing" (de-pokemon-izing?) them.

This even extends to winning the heart of Zekrom without capturing it, never once restraining it into a Pokeball. Legendary Pokemon are often renowned to be incredibly challenging, often forcing a trainer to challenge them in battle to prove their worth, and it speaks volumes that N did not have to attempt a capture and only spoke to the dragon in order to gain its trust and loyalty, which is more than can be said for any Team leaders from other stories in Pokemon. This sort of kindness is often reserved for the main characters and other protagonists in Pokemon, and shows that N does have his heart set in the right place. He is not evil, as he believes that he will create happiness amidst Pokemon if he separates them from man. But he is, unfortunately, remarkably naive and horribly misguided, having been manipulated by Ghetsis all of his life. He has little sense of social manipulation or subtlety, making it difficult for him to recognize anything beyond his usual scope of a rather simplistic world view. He is an open book if one can grasp what he's trying to get at, but he isn't a master of riddles by any stretch of the mind. He is peculiar, but in the same way one understands an animal's quirkiness, he is not hard to interpret, and he leaves his heart on his sleeves.

Though N is extremely precise and methodical, as much as the mathematical equations he is so fond of, he is also very much a dreamer with big ideas. He wishes to create a world of absolutes, of "black and white", to free Pokemon from the clutches of man. Even N himself is very absolute, as he is both calculating and a dreamer, both detached and emotional, not one trait submitting to the others, creating a very overwhelming mix of raw drive and precision that is uncommon in most people. He believes that Pokemon can be perfected through their separation from man, having witnessed them at their happiest when they were working with one another instead of with humans.

As absolute as N is, and as strongly as he holds himself and his beliefs, there is a moment when he decides to allow someone to challenge them. When he encounters the main character, he hears the voices of the main character's Pokemon, all of which were very happy and excited to be with their new trainer. He does not concede immediately. Instead, he challenges the main character at every turn to grow stronger, and become the second legendary hero. This shows that N wanted to know, for certain, if he was entirely in the right. Unlike many villains, that do not care whether their causes are right or wrong, N does not want to proceed if he is shown to be holding the improper ideals.

His world begins to change when he starts getting more familiar with the main character, however. With the proverbial "foot in the door", N becomes curious of the main character, wishing to know his "truth" and what dreams he had as opposed to his own. In his own bizarre way, he begins to show signs of respect and great interest, provoking the main character many times to challenge his beliefs and challenge what he stands for. He likely wanted to know whether or not the main character's truth could overpower his ideals, and he was not one to turn his nose up at the notion of humans and Pokemon making each other truly happy. For the entirety of his journey, he waits for the final battle, to see whether or not he should change his opinions.

N starts to push the main character very hard at points in the journey. Whether it was intentional or not, he nearly threatens the main character by revealing knowledge about the main character's two best friends, Cheren and Bianca. N hardly bats an eyelash as he reveals that the Shadow Triad had spied on the three of them. Though it could have very well been yet another sign of how wildly disconnected N was from socially acceptable norms, it was still clearly meant to emphasize that the main character was neutral. A shade of grey. A mix, instead of the absolutes that N had. This was the most directly opposite force N could encounter, and his battles with the main character weren't simply about listening to his Pokemon. They were also meant to gauge the main character's resolve and to see if their stance was strong enough to challenge his. He wants the main character's truth to hold up, and he truly wants people and Pokemon to be happy, but until the very end he simply cannot believe in it.

When the climax starts to rise, N becomes very excitable and rather short with Alder, who begs at him to stop. N won't accept the words from someone who had lost to his resolve, and it is not until the main character summons Reshiram and defeats him that he concedes defeat and admits that his ideals were inferior to the main character's truths. For N, it was not the words that swayed him, but the actions. Proof through action is the truest form of communication, and that was what it took to shake N to his core.

At the end, N was left almost empty. Everything he had known had been turned on his head, and he had so much more to learn and relearn. He realized that he did not know everything he needed to know about Pokemon, and that he had to learn more about humans as well. Though he was very torn and conflicted, he decided to continue his journey with Zekrom at his side, starting anew, teaching himself out of old habits and behaviors, his story to be continued someday...