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MAKUHITA/MARK:
History:
He grew up in a household with his parents and his younger brother, Drew. Their father was an alcoholic who'd brandish his belt and whip them for any perceived slight, and often, Mark would have to cover for his brother. This and his inherited anger issues made life for him hard at first, but soon, he realized that giving into his violent urges was causing him to turn into the very man he hated.

He worked on learning to control himself, and soon, a group of friends formed around him. They all went through some sort of hardship, and his determination was the nucleus that kept them all together. Before he was taken from his world, Mark worked odd jobs and worked out a lot. He was a member of the local fitness community, and was rather well-liked among his peers.

One day, however, all of that was taken away from him. He was whisked away into the Thirsty Desert, and woke up as a Makuhita. He wandered around, lost and slowly dying for days, until a caravan came by. Asana was working as a guard, and thanks to her ability to sense Aura, she found him.

When she got back to her hometown, she tried having him stay with her for a while, but he almost ate her out of house and home. He was also extremely evasive about his origins, thinking that nobody would believe the truth about what he really was. He took up work as a caravan guard, too, in an attempt to actually earn some money. There, they found their first two outlaws.

One of them escaped, but once they saw how much the other one's bounty was, Makuhita and Asana had a talk. The former convinced the latter to pursue her ambitions and become a bounty hunter with him, and the start of a legendary career was formed.

They eventually took down two of the biggest criminals on the Sand Continent not by being super-strong, but by swaying the hearts of the right people at the right time. The more important of these two was Cacturne. When he was reunited with his ex-wife, his partner, Lombre, thought it was all a setup. He promised Team Yin-Yang that he'd kill them the next time he seen them, only sparing Cacturne's partner because he ordered him not to shoot her.

Things were fine for a while, but then, Lombre took a friend of Makky's hostage. Lombre told him and his partner that either they'd die, or their friend would, but luckily enough, they broke free. Listening to their command, Makuhita and Asana fled the Sand Continent.

They landed on the Grass Continent after Lombre sank the cargo ship they fled on, and a long journey followed where their fortunes rapidly changed a number of times. They eventually made their way to the Clover Guild and joined it so that they'd have a safe place to stay and hone their skills.

Personality:
Makuhita is, on the exterior, a friendly guy whose stomach is only dwarfed by his heart. He tries to see the good in just about anyone, and tries to do the right thing. Even if doing what's right is hard or harmful to himself, he'll still do it. He has a hard time focusing on things, and comes across as a bit scatter-brained.

However, there's a bit more to him. He can be thoughtful and philosophical, often when others least expect it. He also has anger issues, but years of experience and encouragement have helped him learn how to manage and bottle those feelings up most of the time. It's to the point where most people don't even know that about him.

Related to those issues is his fear of getting angry, or letting negative emotions influence his actions. He was ready to kill Lombre in a fit of rage after he shot through Asana's leg during the final leg of the second arc, but he refrained because he couldn't live with himself if he did something like that. In his eyes, it'd break a promise he made with his brother many years ago.

Makuhita also has a bad tendency to bottle emotions up, and to try to carry all of the weight and burdens that others have. This dates back to his childhood. He was the "tough one", so he always tried to bear his brother's punishments in his place. In his eyes, he was the only one equipped to take it, and so he did.

Fighting Style:
He's pretty tanky, although his head is less resilient than his body. He's a grappler and a wrestler, and if someone is grabbed by him, it'd be hard for them to free themselves.

He's more of a natural at using Aura Expression than Asana is, although his Sensing range and prowess is hilariously bad. He can only feel out Auras an arm's length from him, and he can barely make anything out.

He is a nightmare to combat if one is a physical fighter. His durability and pain tolerance is high, and his budding skills with Aura make it even more of a pain to damage him.

Weaknesses:
His main weakness is his lack of mobility. He isn't very quick on his feet, and speedy foes can just dance around him. He's also more susceptible to special attacks compared to physical ones: an inferno or a big shock are better at keeping him down than physical techniques.

Misc Facts:
He'll eat anything, but he prefers spicy food most of all.
He can be more clever than Asana when he's pressed, but he isn't as intelligent as she is.
Makuhita is a wrestling junkie.

ASANA:
History:
She was born as an Aura Sensor in an agricultural town, which gave her a sense of confidence that morphed into arrogance. This caused her to push everyone away, and soon, her abilities stagnated as she was forced to go into caravan work to pay the bills. Makuhita was the first Pokemon to tolerate her standoffish nature, and as a result, she began to gradually open up.

As the two fought together, she continued bonding with him, soon considering him a part of her family. This was only strengthened as the two fled across the Grass Continent from Lombre, and by the time they reach the Clover Guild, their partnership became unbreakable.

Personality:
She's the more tactical one compared to Makuhita, although she used to get blindsided in combat back when she was more arrogant. She lost an eye because of it, and it's a sore topic she refuses to go back to no matter how much she's pushed.

She tends to poorly hide her own emotions when under stress, and has a hard time taking the feelings of others into account. She also holds a competitive streak to her, although this hasn't had much of a chance to show yet.

Fighting Style:
Asana is a very mobile fighter who channels Aura into her limbs in order to hit harder. She's a striker, in contrast to Makuhita, and sometimes uses Psybeams as a ranged option. Asana is decent at Aura Expression, although Makuhita is technically better at it than her. Her true talent lies with sensing, being able to feel out Auras from great distances. However, her attention to detail with Aura isn't the best.

As she learns how to harness her Aura more, her style will morph more and more into a hyper-aggressive one that is absolutely relentless.

Weaknesses:
Asana is a rather frail fighter, and has a particular weakness to body shots.

Misc Facts:
She isn't a picky eater, but she prefers sour food.
She'll eventually develop a fear/anxiety of rain after fighting Lombre enough.

LOMBRE:
History:
Lombre's family was a bit peculiar. His father was a Lombre from the countryside, and his mother was a Whimsicott. He was the youngest of seven sons, and the only one that took after his father in terms of species. Due to that and his reedy stature, he gained the nickname "Tallarin" as a child. He stowed away on a cargo boat to the Sand Continent when he was about 16 after a bad run-in with a gang member who thought he was cheating their friends. He adapted quickly to his new home and became a conman, using his artistic abilities to forge fake merchandise.

As his nature became more widely known, he could sell less and less, until one day, he bumped into Cacturne as he fled an angry mob. The two of them worked together to beat them, and they became partners. Lombre admired Cacturne for his lack of filter and honesty, and soon, he became like a brother to him. He interpreted what happened between Team Yin-Yang, Cacturne and his ex-wife as emotional manipulation of someone he cared about and vowed to kill the former, no matter what the cost was.

His vendetta was so great that he sank the ship his enemies had fled on, then following this up by pursuing them halfway across the Grass Continent.

Personality:
Lombre is usually quite calm, having great understanding and control over his own emotions. He can lie to someone's face and not have a single tell, and he can read most Pokemon like an open book from educated intuition and body language. However, he isn't infallible. Someone as experienced at deceit as he is could still outwit him, and he has trouble reading those who have subdued body language.

He claims to not like fighting when he doesn't have to, and in most situations, he'll try to defuse the situation or at least give his opponents a chance to back off. He hates killing and bloodshed in most cases, and will usually try to approach things non-lethally, unless he feels cornered or if the target is a part of a grudge he carries.

However, there's a darker side to him. If he believes he or someone he cares about is gravely wronged, he can hold a vendetta that can only be extinguished by the most extraordinary of circumstances. He'll gaslight himself into doing immoral things by telling himself that the ends justify the means, and will hypocritically endanger others' lives just so that he can destroy those he targets.

In spite of his psychological flaws, Lombre is a very cunning and intelligent Pokemon, and that is why he's so dangerous. He can figure out most strategies quickly, and most of the time, he won't let his opponents use them twice.

Fighting Style:

Lombre relies on his bag of tricks and sniping prowess more than anything else. He's an excellent shot, quick on his feet, and his Giga Drain roots give him a melee option. He tends to go for a non-lethal approach on most opponents, only opting to shoot to kill under certain circumstances. He usually tries to finish battles as quickly as possible, due to his lack of endurance.

In short, he's absolute hell to face at medium to long range.

Weaknesses:
Lombre isn't a very sturdy fighter, and is about as frail as Asana is. He has to rely on Giga Drain and evasion if he is to survive in a longer engagement. His desire for hastily resolved battles can also be used against him: this psychological flaw costed him the first time he fought Makuhita.

He is also a novice when it comes to hand-to-hand fighting. If he can't outspeed an opponent, he can be quickly overwhelmed at close range by a more skilled combatant.

NICKEL:
History:
A lot of Nickel's past isn't known, but what we do know is what he's done. He had worked as a criminal in the Sand Continent for at least a decade, piggybacking off of stronger Pokemon and "managing" them, usually by giving them orders and advice in combat.

Over time, however, his fortunes began to lessen. Each Pokemon he helped was more incompetent than the last, and eventually, he found himself working with Iron Wing, a Hawlucha who had practically nothing going for him. It is a testament to Nickel's knowledge of battling that he managed to raise that bird from being a jobber into a legitimate threat, but unfortunately for him, Makuhita and Asana cut his newfound winning streak short.

Realizing that things would never be the same again, he instead moved to the Grass Continent and started up his own gang, the Platinum Syndicate. The gang now has a small, yet steady core of members.

Personality:
Nickel is a very two-faced individual. When he wants something, he'll try his hardest to butter up someone, but he's also very infamous for the verbal abuse he hurls towards Pokemon under him who he deems to be "under-performing".

He has a bit of a cowardly streak, too, although this has been lessening in recent times.

He's a very abrasive Pokemon who tends to boss everyone around, and he's rather hard to get along with. Everyone keeps him around mainly due to his knowledge of strategy and tactics. He's the core that keeps his gang together during their various operations, and without them, they would've likely all gotten captured by now.

He thinks he's a master manipulator, but everyone can see through him. In truth, his gang members respect Thicket more because she treats them better, even though she isn't technically their boss.

Fighting Style:
None. He knows very little in the way of moves, and the most he can do is hide in someone's bag and throw items at enemies.

Weaknesses:
He's practically useless on his own.

THICKET:

History:
She was born to a family of vintners, and was known as an eccentric for her unorthodox brewing practices. She accidentally blew up some property when she first devised the recipe for one of her most infamous recipes, the Cheri Bomb, which resulted in her getting kicked out. She became a moonshiner not too long after, refusing to get a permit to sell alcohol in Capim due to a variety of reasons.

Her brewery and the Platinum Syndicate are close, although they're still seperate organizations. Nickel provides manpower and protection, and Thicket provides a source of steady revenue.

Personality:
Thicket is kind to most, although she is by no means naive. She's a very shrewd businesswoman, and her compassion towards most around her makes her a reliable, likeable boss. However, this attitude changes when someone repeatedly does something to offend her, usually by desecrating the flora around her.

She's known to trip up offenders and spray hallucinogenic mist at them, but those that repeatedly and consistently earn her ire have their homes conveniently explode. She loves her explosives, and she will gladly use them if someone is too stubborn to learn their lesson with her.

SHANKS/SHELLBREAKER XIII:
Background:
Shanks' family were a bunch of outcasts. They're related to the Violet Clans, which are scattered groups of Galarian Slowbro and Slowking across the southern Water Continent. Their history is long, but to give a short summary, they were all once part of a single, ancient early nation ruled by Slowking. Those in power tended to mistreat their kin under them, and the lower classes staged a successful revolt.

The original Shellbreaker was one of the rebels, and a particularly infamous one at that. He was known for being strong enough to break the shells of his enemies, which is quite an impressive feat. The original rebels split off into their own clans due to conflicting ideas about what to do with themsleves, but Shellbreaker I hated them all anyway. They were too chummy with the Slowking, even though a lot of them were treated the exact same as the Slowbro were.

Shellbreaker I broke off and became a bandit, raiding the other Clans from time to time. He was strong enough to go through an entire settlement alone, and his children only became even stronger. Their morality began to warp over time. The earlier generations viewed themselves as being on a crusade against a bunch of traitors, but over time, the newer ones cared less and less. Their hearts slowly blackened as time went on, until Shellbreaker XIII came around.

Shanks, as he was named before earning the right to use the family name, was one of the most crooked Pokemon on the Water Continent. He enjoyed hurting others and taking things for himself. He had a lot of strength and durability, but his real talent was his stamina. He could fight for over a day, all the while healing his injuries with Slack Off. The training regiment for each potential Shellbreaker always involved a lot of work on stamina.

He had a son once, too, who he simply called "Junior". Junior didn't like what his father did, and rashly tried to challenge him for the right to be the next Shellbreaker, in the hope that he could stop the cycle the name represented.

Junior failed, and Shanks ended his life for "being a disappointment". He felt a twinge of guilt when he did the deed, but he didn't know what to even call that emotion. He chalked it up to weakness leaving his psyche, and promptly buried it.

Some time after Junior's death, three of the largest Violet Clans teamed up to drive him out of their territory. They took heavy casualties, but they succeeded. Shanks fled the Water Continent and went to the Grass Continent. He abandoned his family name for the time being and went on the search for a proper heir to it.

He knew that they needed to be more than strong. They needed to be smart, too. It took a long time to find someone who fit his criteria, but when he met Lombre, he knew he was the one. Shanks serves as his physical trainer, although their relationship is very tense. The two constantly test each other's limits and boundaries, and one of these days, something is bound to snap.

Personality:
Shanks is, at his core, an extremely violent individual. He believes in only the law of the jungle, and takes delight in pushing around and hurting those who are weaker than him. He's the closest thing to pure evil a native can get, and he only holds himself back due to having to play by the Platinum Syndicate's rules.

He possesses a sense of superiority and arrogance towards those who are not as strong as him, and this is only multiplied ten-fold towards those who "live in packs" and rely on others.

Shanks seems like an idiot due to his reckless, no holds barred fighting style and his manner of speaking, but he can be deceptive and manipulative when he wants to be. He isn't a professional at lying, but he has a poker face that rivals Lombre's, making him one of the few Pokemon the former con-man can't get a read on.

In spite of his power, Shanks feels constantly bored and unfulfilled, as if he was missing something. In truth, this void in his psyche is due to a lack of bonds with others, but his beliefs are so ingrained into him that he refuses to admit to or consider it.

As a quick side-note, here are some guidelines I use when writing him:
His manner of speech is very terse, and I make it a rule to use as few words as possible when writing his dialogue. Complex words should be kept to a minimum, and he tends to not use contractions when speaking. (I.E "You will", instead of "you'll".) I also try to word things as statements or demands, rather than questions.

His role in the story is to serve as the devil on Lombre's shoulder, but Lombre is by no means clueless or powerless. He will call out Shanks when he thinks he's gone too far, and he's only hanging around him so that he can gain the power to wipe out Makuhita and Asana for good.

Fighting Style:
Shanks is an immovable object defensively. Even if one were to get past his shell, which he uses as a shield, he still has a lot of fat and muscle on him, and possessing Slack Off makes keeping him down even more of a challenge.

Offensively, his "strategy" is very simplistic. He either stabs or bludgeons an opponent with his shell, or shoots at them until they're down. His unnatural strength and durability are what carry him. Most Pokemon couldn't hope to beat him in a battle of brute force.

His shell arm is extremely quick on the draw, moving near-instantly, but the other parts of his body are far more slow.

Weaknesses:
Shanks rarely ever plans or strategizes. He hardly considers any options other than using his physique to win. It's suicide to outmuscle him, but he can easily be outwitted. If one plans to emerge victorious against him, they must come in with a solid strategy and be able to adapt on the fly if said plans are ruined. A skilled, agile combatant is Shanks' natural weakness, although it'd still take a while for him to be taken down by virtue of his durability.

Outside of that, his other major weakness is his stamina. Back when he was on the Water Continent, he had an extreme amount of it. He could regenerate from his injuries and fire off barrage after barrage for hours, but old age has worn down at his reserves considerably. Using Slack Off or his more powerful attacks takes a lot out of him. His constant eating and napping is his own way of conserving and building up his energy for when he needs it.

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Pub: 23 Sep 2025 19:25 UTC

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