Character Name: Ashton 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.  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.

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"