Duality: Ashley Gerner

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//Name: Ashley Gerner

[Note: He will virtually never use his real name. If you refer to him by it [especially in a public place], it will make him pretty uncomfortable/paranoid/nervous.

Some aliases:

Blakely Falaise
Nolan Achard
Cederic Mansel
more to come, maybe ]

//Age: 24

//History:

Orphaned at a young age, he lived a hardscrabble life doing what only a small child could do - beg and steal to keep himself alive.... At least, that's what he'd tell you, assuming that was the angle he was trying to play.

In reality, his life was quite ordinary and his predilection for stealing arose seemingly out of nowhere. His parents eked a modest living out of farming a small plot of land and tried to instill in Ashley their sense of pride from doing an honest day's hard labor. However, Ashley always had his head in the clouds and believed he was born into the wrong class. He dreamed of being an aristocratic noble and detested his laborous chores. He could never understand why they could live so richly and merely take from the working class when they ran out of resources, but someone such as himself couldn't do the same. Indeed, the only thing he enjoyed during this time were the tales his family would tell him, varying from simple fairytales to superstitions, he loved them all. Unfortunately, he never did learn how to read [or write for that matter], so he could never enjoy them on his own.

One day when he was 9, he found a Budew on his family's farm and decided to keep it. With it, he first began his foray into the art of deception and the seeds of his future were sewn with little hope of changing course. His Budew even evolved to better trick people. The thrill of tricking and manipulating those around him was much more than he could have dreamed, and despite his parents' warnings and punishments, he continued to brew mischief whenever possible.

No one could tell you exactly when Ashley transformed from a playful scamp to a thieving delinquent, but the Zorua he caught [with a stolen pokeball no less] when he was 14 certainly exacerbated his plight. By age 16, his parents were at their wits' end. They gave him an ultimatum: Stop his criminal activities or leave and don't come back. He promised to stop, but soon after he was caught at it again, resulting in his exile from the town and his parents' disowning him for his shameful behavior.
Being now a vagabond, Ashley travelled, conning people out of their money both for survival and the fun of it. He practiced new personas with his Zorua [who evolved soon after exile]. He learned a lot over the next few years, both from his Zoroark and from watching other thieves and conmen.

His half-Chelsea grin scar comes from a con gone bad which would have cost him his life, if not for his pokemon. He spins the tale to best suit his schemes.

//Extra:
- Illiterate, but pretends not to be.
- Writes fancy-looking scribbles and claims them to be of a foreign land.
- Wishes his eyes were blue because he thinks it would make him appear more trustworthy
- Tries to appear disarming/inconspicuous
- good at reading people/their expressions.
- pretended to be psychic on more than one occasion.
- Has a sweet tooth
- Has many aliases, complete with their own accents.
- Constantly practices new ones
- If he has something nice, there's likely someone not far away lamenting the loss of an object that bears a striking resemblance to it.
- Coincidences are strange, no?

//Personality:

Despite his illiteracy, he has quite a way with words, capable of maneuvering out of tricky situations using them alone. He loves the art of storytelling, even though he tends to try to pass off his 'stories' as fact. Though he'll lie, cheat and steal, he would never resort to violence - it's not his style. He loves to be the actor in his cons and craves the thrill of stealing more than anything, which can get him in over his head. He's very charming and amiable; whether this is a ruse or not is debatable. Because of how long he's feigned it, even he has trouble gauging his sincerity. If he's found out or something goes wrong, he'll first try to weasel his way out verbally, and if that doesn't work, use his pokemon as a diversion and then flee with them. He's very egocentric, and tends to forget other people aren't just there for him to steal from. If you don't have something he wants or you aren't useful to him, you're practically invisible to him.

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//Roselia - F
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/Name - Poise

/Nature - Sassy; Mischievous

/Ability - Poison Point

/Moveset:
- Toxic Spikes
- Attract
- Giga Drain
- Venoshock

/Extra
- History
Ashley's first pokemon, she was found in his family's small farm as a Budew. 9-year-old Ashley quickly befriended her, much to the chagrin of his parents. Together, they played many pranks on other people, compounding his parents' dismay. As soon as he earned enough, he bought a pokeball and made the Budew officially his [notably, one of the few times he actually bought something instead of stealing it]. One day, Poise came to the conclusion that being a Roselia would better help Ashley and his plans, so she evolved. Nowadays, Poise still assists Ashley in his mischief-making, gleefully charming the marks out of their cash and jewelry.
- Personality
Poise has always been a brash pokemon, her shenanigans often landed her in trouble. In fact, that's how she wound up at Ashley's farm, separated from the group that she had been with. She fears separation from Ashley, not wanting to lose friends once again, thus she easily becomes jealous, spiteful and angry if she feels someone is trying to take him away from her [or vice versa]. With that being said, she does not worship Ashley or see him as a superior; he's merely hers. She will try charm those around her who either have something she wants or seem useful. If you have neither, expect a rather cold/distant/apathetic attitude.
- Fighting Style
She prefers to use trickery, pranks and deceit; not big on attacking head on unless provoked.
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//Zoroark - M
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/Name - Guile

/Nature - Quiet; Alert to sounds

/Ability - Illusion

/Moveset:
- Leer
- Nasty Plot
- Foul Play
- Dig

/Extra
- History
Ashley's second pokemon; he was spotted by Ashley as a Zorua while disguised as a human, trying to steal food. Ashley was intrigued by the sight and decided to follow and once he found out it was a Zorua, caught it [using a 'donated' pokeball]. Guile still gets upset thinking about it. Ashley worked with him to improve his illusions, and he helped Ashley learn how to steal and deceive more effectively. After long years of bonding via perfecting their 5-finger discounts, Guile evolved. The two remain 'thick as thieves'.
- Personality
He's very protective of his small gang of grifters, often assuming the role of the look-out. He thinks ahead, usually securing a number of ecape routes, and if that's not possible, hastily creates them on the fly if need be. Loves to work with Ashley in his scams, providing most of the 'special effects' for the schemes to work.
- Fighting Style
Doesn't like to fight if at all avoidable. Prefers running, intimidating, or scaring opponents away before considering fighting. Only really fights if his [and Ashley's] back is against the wall or to protect one of the gang.
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//Sableye - F
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/Name - Spectre

/Nature - Lax; Scatters things often

/Ability - Stall

/Moveset:
- Power Gem
- Shadow Sneak
- Fire Punch
- Psychic

/Extra
- History
Ashley's third and newest pokemon. Running away from a heist that cut it closer than he wanted, he hid inside a seemingly convenient cave. There, he found the lonely Sableye who was all too glad for the company. In a rare moment of genuine sympathy, he allowed her to join his party. Since then, she's worked as hard as she can to prove she's worthy of the team.
- Personality
Spectre lacks much in the way of social behavior, having no need of such knowledge for most of her life, but she always means well. She's probably the most honest and friendly of the group, not caring so much about enjoying the thieving or deception, but about having fun with friends. She feels a need to cement her position in the crew as invaluable; to this end, she learned powerful attacks to help defend her crew. Woe betide those who incur her wrath.
- Fighting Style
She's the main muscle of the group, focusing solely on attacks. Not very subtle in her execution, Ash tends to only use her for fighting when there's no way out but to fight.
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[Ask Blog]

[Preliminary Comic]

Hhhnnggg amidoinitrite? I've never joined an OCT before. ;u;
He was supposed to just be an NPC, but then I kept thinking about him and suddenly here I am. XuuX;;