shton Casey Ketchum

Played By: Alicia Ashby (lynxara@bad-candy.com)

Odain Alias: Ash

Homeworld: Pokemon: Evolution continuity... sorta. (see Background)

Physical Description:

Ash is a little boy of about ten years of age (going on eleven).  He usually wears a red cloth jacket with short white sleeves over a black T-shirt, travel-worn blue jeans, sneakers, fingerless green gloves, and a red and white baseball cap with the stylized 'L' of the Pokemon League on it.

He has brown eyes, slightly dark, almost tanned skin, and unruly, spiky black hair that's just long enough to spill out over his collar a bit. He also carries a brown knapsack with him at pretty much all times. He stands about four feet, three inches tall, and has a sturdy build that's quite a bit hardier than the average ten-year-old's, thanks to his life of hiking and camping.

Powers:

Well, on his homeworld, Ash is the Messiah, a very special person who will alter the destiny of his homeworld.  However, he doesn't know this, and it means very little in the Odain dimension.  He will seem to be no more than a completely average, if occasionally very lucky, little boy, though some supernatural ablities may be able to reveal that he has a 'marked destiny'.

His true source of power are his pokemon, who are:

• PIKACHU - His first, and to this day his favorite.  Pikachu is cheerfull and affectionate, and refuses to stay in his pokeball.  He can usually be seen riding along perched on Ash's shoulder or the top of his head, or walking shortly behind his trainer.  He rarely leaves Ash's side, and will defend him if he's attacked.  Pikachu has the ability to produce powerful electrical shocks (enough voltage to possibly kill a human if he's using a more advanced technique like Thunderbolt, though he'd never dream of doing so), and is also very quick (able to move at speeds exceeding 65 mph when using the Agility technique).  He can also attack by simply throwing his body at attackers (Tackle), but due to his body's small size, it's probably his least effective attack method.  Pikachu himself is very small, standing no more than a foot or so in height, and can be easily hurt by physical force, and most anything else save electrical attacks.   He also has a weakness to any sort of attack that would be considered Ground element by pokeworld standards (like, say, Earth elemental magic, or a rockslide induced by supernatural powers).

• BULBASAUR - Faithful and brave, Bulbasaur is a stout fighter and loves his master just as much as Ash's other pokemon do.  He's something of a loner, though, and usually only listens to Ash's commands.  Bulbasaur can excrete sleeping powders and stunning dust from the plantlike bulb on his back, and can also extrude long, tough vines from his back to attack with or manipulate objects. If somehow able to gather lots of sunlight, he can use Photosynthesis to heal his wounds quickly, or fire a powerful Grass-elemental beam of energy called a Solarbeam (neither is likely in Odain).  He can also launch a seed from the bulb on his back that incapacitates a victim with binding vines upon impact, while slowly (and non-lethally) draining their life energy away and into Bulbasaur. Both these vines and the ones Bulbasaur grows can be slashed or burned by anything that would do the same to normal vegetation; in addition, without light, Bulbasaur’s vines cannot be regenerated when cut. He will never attack unless he feels he has been provoked, and would not dream of using lethal force.  Bulbasaur, like other Grass-types, is very weak to fire attacks.

• SQUIRTLE - Squirtle is a little pokemon much resembling a blue turtle.  He can shoot powerful streams of water and bubbles from his mouth, and hide from attacks in his tough shell. He can also launch his shell at opponents as an attack that does enough damage to perhaps break the average person's arm, but he will only use an attack like this if commanded.  Squirtle is usually very sweet to Ash, but he's also got a roguish side, and often acts as the leader of Ash's pokemon if he is somehow absent.  If you ever see him with his glasses on, get ready for trouble.  But while he can be a prankster, Squirtle would never really hurt anyone if he could help it.  Squirtle is very weak to plant-elemental and electrical attacks.

• PIDGEOTTO - Pidgeotto is a bird pokemon, just big enough to perch on Ash's shoulder, with a wingspan of perhaps two feet.  Pidgeotto is loyal and a fierce fighter, able to flap his powerful wings very quick to create blasts of wind powerful enough to knock an adult human over, or possibly throw one back a few feet (though this would require a few rounds of flapping to build up the attack).  Pidgeotto can also attack by throwing his body at opponent, or flying at them.  He never pecks at opponents with his peak or claws, both of which are blunt and unable to cut through much.  Pidgeotto is very well-trained, and can do many things for Ash besides simply battle.  Pidgeotto possesses a pronounced weakness to electrical attacks.   

• CHARIZARD - Charizard is simultaneously the most powerful and least useful of Ash's pokemon.  While he's very big and strong, standing at a little over 6 feet tall, and can even fly if he happens to find a cavern big enough, he's also lazy and is more likely to just go to sleep if summoned by Ash into a non-lethal situation.  He will fight or not fight for Ash at his own will, and otherwise usually won't do anything else Ash commands, unless he thinks Ash will come to harm otherwise.  In combat, Charizard can breath intense fire, as befits his dragonlike appearance, and is strong enough to move boulders about half his size, or easily pick up and carry something human-sized.  Charizard has fierce teeth and jaws, but would have to be viciously provoked in order to angry enough in combat to use them.   Charizard is weak to water attacks, and if the flame that burns at the end of his tail is somehow put out, Charizard will die. Note that this requires several minutes of deliberate effort, as the process is quite painful to Charizard and will likely end up being painful for the people involved as well.

Weaknesses:

Ash is a ten-year-old boy who's lived a rather idyllic existence.  Odain has been his first real exposure to the concept that not *all* people are more or less basically good, and the way it's been impressed upon him is slowly turning into more than he can handle.  Between that and a period of isolation forced on him by his 'friend' Justonav, Ash's young mind is beginning to break under the strain of coping with what's happening to him.  Telepathic scans, and just his general demeanor will make it quite clear that he is quietly beginning to go insane. His paranoia will make it nearly impossible for him to truly trust or feel comfortable around almost anything human or human-like, and he will be very twitchy and prone to severe overreactions.   This will, needless to say, make interactions with other persons awkward, and also make him even more prone to hurting himself or being manipulated.  Ash is also a little slow on the uptake.  He's not quite stupid, but his understanding is extremely limited in some respects. 

At this age, he has only a tenuous grasp of what 'death' really means, owing largely to his naive attitude and somewhat sheltered outlook.  However, his confusion over who and what to trust in Odain is making him extremely fearful for perhaps the first time in his life, and very homesick-- other impulsive conditions that will make him profoundly easy to manipulate.

Skills:

Ash knows most of the things one might expect a ten year old with a basic education to know, and then some.  His culture expects children to assume responsibility at a very young age, and Ash is as such completely capable of taking care of himself. He can hike and make camp, and can even wash his own laundry and cook for himself if he has to.  He's not at all uncomfortable in wilderness, and seems to have a lust for exploring and wandering, even into places that he shouldn't go.  He is a very accomplished bike rider, and can provide and care for all his pokemon by himself.  Most of all, Ash is still young enough to be able to retain new skills learned for a long time, and can learn something new much faster than one might expect a child of his intelligence.  

Equipment:

Ash has his clothing, beloved pokedex Dexter, his pokeballs, a sleeping bag, and minimal selection of campaign equipment - a basic first aid kit, some rope, a compact cooking kit, and some other very small odds and ends. Beyond that, nothing of note.

Personality:

Ash is, at heart, a kind-hearted if occasionally somewhat dense little boy.  Even in his current mental state, he still cares very much about the health and well-being of his pokemon and anyone he thinks is a friend.  However, his confusion and emerging psychological problems are severely altering many of his instinctive behavior patterns.  His curiosity is dulled, along with his fearlessness and friendly tendencies.   His actions will be very paranoid, and show off emerging tendencies towards claustrophobia and fear of the dark.   He's not beyond help, but at the moment Odain is simply more than he knows how to deal with.  If he receives proper psychological help with the issues that are spawning his psychoses, a complete recovery and the restoration of his original behavior patterns is quite possible.  If allowed to degenerate, though, Ash could at this point very easily become sociopathic or develop tendencies towards violent fits, nervous breakdowns, and self-mutilation.

Backstory:

Ash came to Odain through an accident caused by a random flux of energy emitted by the primitive pokeballs of the lost city of Pokemopolis on his homeworld.  One moment, he was watching a giant Gengar, Alakazam, and Jigglypuff battle alongside his friends Misty and Brock; the next, he was in a very dark cave.  Despite his young age, this is the boy who will grow up to be the man called Satoshi that some other persons in Odain might remember, and his presence in Odain may have some unforeseen ramifications in his homeworld...

Plot Purpose:

Ash's insanity is largely interesting as an example of what happens when a character *can't* cope with the distinctly odd nature of Odain.  What happens to him now is largely in the hands of the other PC's, which means that he's sure to spawn some interesting plotlines.  Most of all, though, the ultimate ramifications of Ash going insane upon pokeworld's timeline would have to be considered...

Connections:

Perhaps at the root of Ash's current bout with madness is his attitude towards Professor Oak.  The Professor as he is in Odain acts very little like the man Ash knows, and the alterations in attitude terrify him.  He's also familiar with Mewling, and likely to stay friendly with her (as she is, after all, a pokemon, and pokemon are far easier to understand than people).  He has also fallen under the influence of Justonav lately, who he simultaneously trusts and is patently terrified of.  He does maintain a legitimate affection for both Meiri Umino and Sonya, who both remind him of his mother.

Theme Music: Queen, "Under Pressure"