Chris the Human and Stannis the Sawsbuck [Fallarbor|Elite]

Even before he was born, Chris was an anomaly; he had been expected to die in the womb, because of his unborn twin. But in the end, the exact opposite had happened. Chris was a small infant, born earlier than expected, and his mother was disappointed that he had not been born a girl-though, according to her, she got over it when they showed him to her for the first time. For the first three years of his life, Chris remained happily oblivious towards his parents' strained relationship, but they would divorce when he was four-even a young child like him couldn't miss the effects of that. His mom was given custody of the kids, while his dad got weekend visiting rights. That was when they moved to Nimbasa, which luckily wasn't too far from Driftveil, where they used to be. The young boy often asked why his dad was no longer around constantly like before, but nobody bothered to give him a complete explanation.

Chris loved his family and had a pretty nice life, but nobody could deny that short tempers were a trademark of his household. If their mom didn't scream at them at all in a day, it was considered a miracle of sorts; if the siblings weren't getting along, they would fight, and their fights could be brutal. Chris learned quickly that if you were the youngest, you had to fight twice as hard and be twice as angry. These behaviors carried into his school life: he would yell at and insult the other kids, instigate fights, become angry at the slightest misstep or perceived wrong. His relationship with his fellow students became nearly polarized; either he was avoided and disliked, or thought to be the coolest thing ever, there was little middle ground. Things only grew worse when Matt was allowed to leave for his Pokemon journey, held back for years by their paranoid mother. Chris was devastated, and the thought of his beloved brother being gone most of the time was alien and terrifying. He would cry thinking of how he and his sister Rose would be left by someone who had always been with them. They were three siblings, not two.
His grades dropped fast as he began to lash out against the teachers as well as the students, and more often than not his mom was called to be informed that her son had struck a kid in his class, had cussed out another, had stolen valuables from his peers...nothing seemed to be able to curb his rage and discontent attitude. Finally, his father intervened, offering to take Chris to his home region, the less-hectic Hoenn.

Seeing no other alternative, it was agreed that Chris would spend his summer in Hoenn, where hopefully the change of pace and environment would help him. Though the boy initially protested, he soon found that Hoenn was far different from Nimbasa, with the latter's fast-moving pace and almost chaotic energy. As they stayed in the rural areas, Chris never had to deal with places like Slateport or Lilycove, and found himself becoming relaxed, even peaceful. He spent the days running around with his sister, playing stupid games and just being a normal kid. His father and stepmother were overjoyed to see such improvement in their son's behavior, believing he would be ready to mingle again with other kids when they returned to Unova. Finally, they went to Fortree City, the last destination in their visit. There, Chris met one of the city's inhabitants, a boy named Vincent Sage. He was older than Chris by at least a few years, but they still decided to hang out, and quickly became friends. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before Chris had to go back to Unova and leave his new friend behind. Returning to Nimbasa was a bit of a shock-Chris had become unaccustomed to the city's vibrant atmosphere, and even stranger, Matt was there at their house. The two kids were excited and beyond happy to see their brother, and just about swamped him with hugs; after, he surprised them with two Pokemon, one for the two of them-a Togepi for Rose and a Deerling for Chris. They adored the Pokemon and were endlessly grateful to Matt for his gift, doting over the small creatures and trying to decide on names. Chris would name his Deerling Stannis, after a book character from a series he had technically never been forbidden to read.

Life back in Nimbasa took some adjusting to, but with Stannis at his side, that went well enough for Chris. The real problem was his return to school. Chris felt shame and guilt everytimehe saw the people he had hurt before, and could barely look any of the adults in the eye. Though both his grades and behavior improved substantially, Chris began to isolate himself from everyone else, often taking a solitary place away from the other kids. When he walked home, he made sure to take routes that would let him avoid everyone else.
When Chris was nine, his sister-who was twelve-was permitted to leave home and start her Pokemon journey, as Matt had done before her. Left alone in the house with his mom, Chris had never felt so lonely and empty before, even with Stannis there. He became biased against trainers and journeys, blaming both for taking away his siblings because of months-long travel. He made sure that anyone who asked him why he hadn't started training Stannis knew such views, and he even ended up telling the Nimbasa gym leader, Elesa, about it. She listened to his reasons, then proceeded to invite him to watch some Pokemon battles at her gym. Chris immediately went to protest, but Stannis nudged him in the direction of the gym, and he knew he had no choice but to reluctantly accept Elesa's invitation.

At first, Chris was irritated that Elesa had taken an interest in his refusal to be a trainer, and was determined not to change his mind. But then he saw someone battle Elesa with a Sawsbuck, and Chris realised after the fight that he, too, wanted a Sawsbuck. He saw so many Pokemon that caught his eye-Archeops, Hydreigon, Volcarona, Reuniclus-all of them so coordinated with and bonded to their trainers. The more battles Chris watched, the more open he became to the idea of becoming a trainer, and he could tell Stannis wanted that to happen as well. After letting Elesa know how his mind had steadily been changed, she was encouraging, and seemed almost...proud of him. Somehow, that made Chris feel better about himself; he wasn't used to hearing such kindness. He knew that he couldn't give up on his new dream now, that would be letting Elesa down.

With Elesa and Stannis' encouragement, Chris began to work towards his goal of becoming a trainer, and in the process opened up a little to the other kids he'd isolated himself from. Though most rightfully didn't trust him, others accepted him enthusiastically, bringing him into their group of friends. He was still standoffish, but he felt accepted and happy at the same time. His new friends loved Stannis, and after hearing about Chris' goal, invited him along to some of their practice battles. As he was still too young, a year shy of standard trainer age, Chris was satisfied with what he had then. Eventually Rose would visit again, showing off how she'd gotten five grass-type starters through trading, and it only made Chris more impatient. But his mom was ever the paranoid type, and saw Chris as her baby boy, and forbade him to leave until he was twelve; not wanting to wait two years, Chris appealed to his brother when he arrived in Nimbasa again, and together they moved off the miracle that was convincing their mom to change it to eleven. Chris hated the thought of waiting a year, but that was far better than two.

Finally, finally, Chris began his journey as a trainer with Stannis by his side. Matt provided the initial transport with his Unfeazant, but then he left, and Chris was able to travel on his own, training Stannis and learning how life worked outside the cities. He earned his first badge with ease, and loved the thrill of battle, the accomplishment he felt, and his pride in Stannis; his Deerling had become strong, being the only Pokemon he had. After getting that badge, Chris encountered a girl he didn't know, one with a Bulbasaur at her side. While impressed with Stannis' strength, she made plenty of jokes about how she already had three badges and Chris only had one. Irritated, he rashly challenged her to a battle, and ended up losing. After taking Stannis to a Pokecenter, the girl named Rionix revealed she in fact only had a single Gym badge, yet had still beat him easily. She wore a smug grin the entire time, way too amused with her own joke.
They became best friends immediately after that.

Chris and Rionix were like siblings, always telling jokes at both of their expenses, arguing over dumb stuff then laughing about it, though sometimes their fights were actual fights. But they were still close friends, and traveled through Unova, earning badges and catching Pokemon. Rionix already had a team of six, but she helped Chris get a Larvesta and find the fossil for Archeon, and he was grateful for it. Because Solosis were just about impossible for Chris to find, he had to appeal to Matt for one; his only caught Pokemon was a Deino, which Rionix insisted was him "cheating" since they were so hard to find outside of Victory Road. Things were great. Chris was becoming a better trainer with each battle, and Rionix was always there to make sure he didn't do anything ridiculously stupid-without her, anyways. They were close, and a great team. But eventually, things started to go wrong.

Chris had always had problems with anger, but since his visit to Hoenn he'd learned how to keep it under control. Only now something had changed, and he found himself snapping at other people, getting irrationally mad and blaming it on them. Stannis, always his rock and source of rationality, even he couldn't keep Chris from bursting with anger. Even Rionix, his best friend, wasn't spared, and she was not the type to simply lie down and take insults. So they fought, and their fights only got worse and worse, both of them forgetting all about how close they'd been and just doing anything to tear down the other. Eventually their friendship just couldn't take it anymore, and the two separated on horrible terms, hating each other as they went their own ways. Chris continued on his own for a few months, Stannis never failing to stay by him, to be the calming counterbalance to his emotions. But the old spark, his drive to be a trainer, all of it failed him. Finally, Chris returned to Nimbasa to stay while he tried to figure out if he was truly cut out to be a trainer, or to travel Unova.

Being back in Nimbasa meant he saw a few of his old friends again, but Chris went back to his isolation, usually staying in the house if his siblings were around or going to the outskirts of the city with his Pokemon. Chris felt like he had no purpose anymore. What was the point of having friends or keeping a stable social life? He was distant, and not as sociable as he was when he had been with Rionix, but there was someone who would drag him out of that as well. There was a boy from Hoenn, one only a year younger than him, someone who was much too happy and optimistic to the point of almost being irritating. But that boy had seen Chris with his Reuniclus, Ninten, and had found the psychic-type beyond adorable-adorable enough to ask his trainer all sorts of questions. What was his name, where he'd evolved, stuff like that. But even though Chris was put off by the boy's seemingly endless energy, for some reason he simply couldn't tell him to just leave him alone. Chris learned his new acquaintance was named Luke, but he went by the nickname of Lyka-"I just thought of it one day, and it kinda stuck," he would explain. But Lyka motivated Chris to go places, and to talk to other people again. Though he couldn't fix every one of his problems, just being there was enough for Chris.

Not long after befriending Lyka, Chris was met with an old friend-Vincent Sage, who arrived when Matt had come to visit again. Having two of his friends there and one of his siblings as well was enough to make Chris happier than he'd been in a long time, and he found motivation-no, inspiration to once more strive to become a better trainer. Vincent even traded him a beautiful Milotic, named Hinawa; she was a gentle, sweet creature, and Chris loved her, thanking Vincent profusely for the trade. After Vincent left to travel with a different friend, Chris and Lyka made plans to do the same, and set off together as Chris and Rionix had once done before. It took months for Lyka to finally be able to leave without anything holding him back, but Chris didn't mind-as long as he could be out in Unova again, he didn't care how long it took. Lyka was a far more timid trainer than himself, so Chris had to help him out, and was there when his friend challenged gyms he'd already beaten, offering advice and giving encouragement. When they went back to Nimbasa for the gym there, Chris was glad to see Elesa again after avoiding her for so long, and she was proud of him for regaining his love of being a trainer.

Almost two years later, Lyka had to return to Hoenn, because of an emergency in the family, and Chris said goodbye to his best friend, hoping things were okay and that he'd be able to return soon. He continued his travels, focusing on training Din and Dhaos, who were loners and the lowest-leveled of the group. Matt would find him in one of the cities and let him know that they-the entire family, even their dad and stepmom-were going to visit Kalos, and that he could come too. Chris hated to, but refused, wanting to stay and focus on training for the Elite Four instead. Things were normal and well, but one night Chris woke up to the sound of screams and roars not too far from where they were. Using Cormag to fly, they immediately fled the area, hoping to find a safe place away from...whatever was happening. But it didn't take long for the safe places to become nonexistent. Pokemon were turning feral, savage, and eating whatever living creature they could find, tearing them to pieces. Nimbasa wasn't safe. Hoenn and Kalos were too far to fly to. Chris had no idea if his family or friends were safe, and he wasn't even able to get to his Pokemon that had been put into the PC Boxes.

The world was hell. Chris was living in a literal hell, but he was going to survive. So he did everything in his power to. He stole from the few people that had not yet dead, threatened them at gunpoint...and killed a few...he killed living Pokemon that stood in the way of his survival and that of his Pokemon. Chris began to degenerate into the hate-filled, spiteful, greedy and jealous person he had always hoped to never be. Even when somehow, something had brought him to Hoenn and away from his home region...he never changed. Stannis kept away from complete savagery, but he'd changed for the worse, and there was no turning back. As years passed and the epidemic showed no signs of ending, there was nothing to bring him back from the path he'd taken.