Mark Stroud

Name:	Mark Stroud
Nickname/Alias:	N/A
Gender:	Male
Sexuality:	Hetero
Age:	18
Height:	5' 11"
Ethnicity:	Hoennese
Birthday:	~2001-2002
Attribute:	N/A
Trainer ID:	N/A
Home:	Slateport City
Pokéform:	N/A
Starter:	Chopper
Status:	Alive

Appearance

Initially had a light musclegut build, wild blond hair, green eyes, and some chin hair stubble. Months of training at The Machastery have resulted in him becoming even stronger, yet curiously still as much of a musclegut as ever. Tends to wear graphic T-shirts of in-universe fiction, along with track pants and running shoes of varying style. Also wears a black and yellow backpack, along with a similarly-colored wrist watch on his left wrist.

Personality

Mark was born and raised to act tough, sometimes to the point of acting hypermasculine however this has become less common as he grew older. Mark tends to be one of the more serious members in most groups he's a part of, and while he takes a stern and direct approach to pokemon training that some people would consider harsh, Mark would argue in his defense that it's no different from how he trains himself often sparring with his starter Chopper to benefit both of their fighting skills. While Mark was never one to shy away from a battle in most circumstances back when he sought to challenge and defeat all of the world's pokemon leagues, he now only battles people he thinks are worth his time, when it's for a cause he believes in, or when it becomes necessary.

One of Mark's key traits for better and for worse are his penchant for justice, drive for self-improvement, and his bouts of anger which he has struggled with throughout his life. While his training at The Machastery has helped him learn to better control his anger and accept that it's an immutable aspect of his personality, it still gets the better of him from time to time, and it's evident to all that no matter what his claimed motivations are for pursuing Team Lightning, his desire for Retributive Justice is chief among them.

History

The son of a sailor from Slateport turned self-made trainer, Mark was among many trainers who strove to become the strongest ever known. His mother suddenly vanished one day without a trace when he was 8, and while he and his father tried to get along, their strained relationship eventually resulted in Mark being kicked out of his home that he was planning on running away from anyway. Mark began living on his own at the young age of 15 with nobody but his machop starter Chopper at his side, a few items in his pack, and the need to become a powerful trainer. While it was initially just a hobby, training had become a means of support for Mark that he quickly improved well enough to make a living off of (if moving between secret bases counts as living) in a matter of months.

Despite having assembled teams to defeat the Gym Leaders, elite trainers, and Champions of Hoenn and and Kanto in two years, Mark was determined to defeat every Champion the world had to offer, and be remembered as one of the toughest trainers in Pokémon history. Early on during his Unova run however, Mark's motivations would change as a combination of burnout and a couple side-quests made him lose interest in defeating the world's champions and question what he really wanted out of life. Despite having worked with Umbra in the past and later going on a side-adventure with Hajime Benson to stop a Psychic Cult from forming an aggressive pokemon Hivemind, Mark wouldn't join the J-Team, instead choosing to return to Hoenn to find himself, make peace with his life, and take refuge in the Machastery: A monastery dedicated to and mainly occupied by various mons within the Machop Evolution Line. Several weeks later after overcoming some of his inner demons and strengthening himself, the Machastery would be attacked by a mysterious band of vandals and hoodlums. After defending his new home, Mark would find a lead revealing these trainers to have come from the Sinnoh Region and would set out to find them, get some answers, and make them pay for their transgressions.

Shortly after the attack, Mark would be invited by his old friend Travis Renault to the Pokemon Technology Exposition; commonly referred to as "The Techspo" for short, and would agree to accompany him believing there to be a potential lead there that would help him find the Machastery attackers. After meeting Owen Edmundson and Minerva, Mark and Travis would find themselves in the midst of a surprise attack by Team Lightning in the middle of The Techspo, later confirming the party responsible for vandalizing his home. He and his newfound friends would successfully fight their way out of the Techspo, even defeating The TV Man (later revealed to be Viz-Sung) during their escape before going their separate ways.

For a stretch of time, Mark would wander across the Sinnoh Region both to explore a region he was unfamiliar with while also hunting for any potential leads on Team Lightning's whereabouts. While new details would be few and far between, Mark would eventually cross paths with Travis and Owen again, agreeing to tag along with the latter in his search for Team Lightning which would eventually pay off when the group accidentally discovered a secret base owned by the villainous team while traveling through The Underground.

Current Pokemon Team

Chopper

Rookie

Other Known Pokemon

Magneman

Trivia

• Mark is an avid fan of existing works, such as F-Zero, One Punch Man, and Powerman 5000.
• It's said that he has a voice deeper than one would expect from someone his age, which is apparently hereditary. According to the author, Mark sounds like a younger John Dimaggio.

Mark's Team
On Hand :	Chopper • Rookie • Magneman
As last seen in: Entralink Arc