Des

Former Rocket Grunt looking for a second chance at life.

Details

• Name: Desmond "Des" Decartes
• Surname: ???
• Age: 22?
• Starter Pokemon: Ace
• Hometown: ???
• Occupation: Vagrant, Cowboy (Former Rocket Grunt, Former Coordinator, Former Interpol "Special" Operative)
• Alignment: Lawful Good Was Chaotic Evil
• Type Preference: Grass (2012-2013), Fighting (2014- )

Appearance

Tall, medium build, bordering on lanky. He has a sharp, unshaven chin and short black hair. His eyes are a peircing bright green. He wears big dark grey trench coat over a white long sleeve and a pair of simple blue jeans with a trainer belt. Jammed on top of his head is his "Grunt" cap, which he is very fond of. Sakura, Lyuri, and Hikari gifted him a locket bearing their picture. He currently wears this locket proudly around his neck.

After his return he now dresses as a stereotypical cowboy. His attire includes a black leather coat with a white button up shirt underneath, black slacks, black cowboy boots, a black stetson with a brown leather band and a black bandana to cover his face.

Biography

Starting Out and Kanjoh 2

Not much is known about Des Pre-Rocket. What is known is that he was introduced to crime at a young age. With his best friend and partner; a Zubat called Ace; they journeyed through Kanto, lying, stealing and conning their way through the region. At the age of 15, Des was "made" and became a member of Team Rocket. Over the years he and Ace would take part in many of Team Rocket's plots, including the takeover at Goldenrod. It was during this "job" that Ace lost his life at the paws of a police Arcanine. This event still haunts Des to this very day. In desperation, Des tried fleeing to Hoenn in order to start a new life as a coordinator. But the authorities caught on and began a several year man hunt across multiple regions. It wasn't until Des encountered a sweet Ranger in Ecruteak that he would get a second chance at life...

Having traveled with the likes of Sakura, Lyuri, Hikari and Rawst for some time, Des has aquired a tight nit group of friends who he has sworn to protect and watch over. However he usually gets called away on missions and must seperate from the group, but you can always count on him to relocate his friends.

Unova 2

Des's appearances throughout Unova have been few and far between. He helped Jacob and Sakura overcome their personal problems and was even present during the April Fool's Day posts where he switched places with his author and went to the 'real' world. While in Unova, Tesse, a victim of his past, tracked him down and met up with the J-Team. She exposed one of the crimes he committed to some of the members, causing them to become wary of Des. Des decided to give Tesse a chance at vengeance and to 'serve justice'. So he challenged her to a battle (in an electrified cage no less!). Des threw the match (and in the process had several thousand volts of electricity course through his body), however Tesse unlocked her Gold Voice and couldn't find it im her heart to kill him. So she let him live his newfound life with his friends and vowed never to speak of his past misdeeds again.

Des was also present at the Big Climatic Event. He lead a team consisting of himself, Ren and Dune in closing a masive dream rift that appeared above Castellia and would later assist in closing the final rift at Entralink.

Orre and Death

During Orre Arc, Des was gone away on missions. After receiving a strange message he and Sparkers scaled up Mt .Coronet to Spear Pillar. There Des and Sparkers faced off against Des's maybe Author, maybe Negacounterpart, Sed and his Blastoise. It appeared Des was victorious, only Sed had a trick up his sleeve. An Electrode that exploded, taking Des's life. Des's spirit appeared in The Under where he shared some heartfelt words with Sakura before being laid to rest.

Return!

Des was resurrected on Aprl 1st, 2014 as a cowboy. From here one he would remain aloof, hanging out in the background of the J-Teams adventures and only making appearances when absolutely necessary, such as helping Ren defeat Mammor. While incognito he confided his true identity with only a few members of the J-Team: Psyche, Jason, Joseph, Munn, Dune and Deziree.

Hoenn-2

Des rejoined the group (though not formally as most of it's members still don't realize it's him) late into the second Hoenn arc. It was here where he befriended the likes of Jack and Zeal and looked to train his new team in order to complete the Hoenn League.

Personality

In spite of his status as a former criminal and all around low life, Des is surprisingly friendly. He tries to help in whatever way he can. He is also rather curious and likes to meet new people, though he stays mindful of certain lines that should not be crossed. However Des suffers from "Big Brother Instinct". He will try to help, protect, and serve anyone and everyone he comes across. Obviously guilt weighs heavy on his mind.

Des also has "random" tendencies, sometimes saying outrageous thing's ("What would you say if you could talk to cheese once?") or exhibiting odd behaviour.

However, Des does have a bad side. A remnant of his criminal days, he will lose control and operate on pure anger and fear. He becomes a danger to himself and to those around him and outside interference is usually needed to stop him from causing to much damage. This aggresion was born from the sorrow and regret he experienced after Ace died.

Relationships

Des is good friends with Sakura, Lyuri and Hikari. However his relationship with all three of these girls has entered some choppy water at one point or another.

After he assaulted Lake, Sakura refused to talk to him. After some time apart and some help from Hikari, their friendship has been repaired. Des feels obligated to protect Sakura for whatever reason and enjoys her company.

Lyuri is another matter. She' not as forgiving as her sister, so trusting Des took longer for her. However after Des helped them deal with Vrang she has learned to trust him more. Since then they've had no squabbles and she likes to tease him from time to time.

Hikari. Ho boy. Des has a crush on Hikari. No one can discern why but Des will tell you that "it was her eyes that drew me in and her caring nature that made me stay". This revelation caused Hikari alot of grief as she didn't know how to react to the sudden affection. Des tried to win her over by gushing over every little thing that she did, but ultimately it made her feel bad to reject him. Before she could leave the group, Sakura stepped in (mirroring that time when Hikari helped Des and Sakura with their relationship) and managed to difuse the situation. Des has decided to cherish his friendship with Hikari and remain friends...for now.

Rawst and Des haven't really spoken to each other alot, nontheless they are friends and Des even gave him the affectionate nickname "Berry Boy".

When Des first met Alyssa, he counldn't help but draw paralells between both her and himself. In spite of the language barrier, Des tried to befriend Alyssa and was met with limited success. Nevertheless, Des considers her a friend and will likely protect her if need be.

Umbra and Des talked briefly in Olivine and again in Snowpoint. Des noticed a "guilty" look in his eye (the same look he sees when he looks in the mirror) and the two spoke about their immoral pasts and found great comfort in knowing that there are others like them.

Des really tries to be a friend to Herbert. However Herbert can't seem to see past the criminal he once was. Still Des has remained steadfast and loyal to Herbert and is willing to help him every chance he gets.

After his return Des's relationships haven't really progressed but he has made some new ones.

He confided his true identity to Jason who he views as a sparring partner. The pair are on very friendly terms and like to battle one another.

His relationship with Psyche is an odd one. Though friendly for the most part, Psyche likes to keep Des at arms length at least. In spite of this Des has trusted her with his identity and the relationship between the pair is getting better.

Skills and Abilities

Due to receiving Rocket Training, Des has various skills that he employs during missions or in some cases in day to day life. For one he is an expert escape artist able to worm his way out of tough situations, and is a skilled tactician able to coordinate groups of people and Pokémon is assaults/missions.

As an individual fighter Des is a pragmatist who likes to trickery and deception to best his opponents. He is trained in fencing and typically wields a Gladius but he only uses it to disarm.

Des is rather observant and can discern fine details with only a cursory glance. This eye for detail takes on supernatural qualities, allowing him to see into people's souls and experience the feelings they feel or the hardships they've faced, kind of like a reverse Heart of Gold. This skill's scope and power has increased over the years and has become what he refers to as "Justice". By staring directly into a persons eyes he can peer into their soul and bring their most deep seated memories to the front of their mind. Des usually uses this skill to mentally torture criminals by making them re-experience their past crimes. He only uses when he absolutely has to.

Des isn't the best at battling. However he doesn't see this as a weakness but rather the product of his training. Des doesn't train his 'mons to fight, he trains them to fulfill a specific role on his taskforce (what he likes to call his team). Des actually encourages his 'mons to avoid fights whenever possible as there's usually a more pragmatic solution. Since his return he's gotten much better at battling and his new team is trained specifically around pokemon battles.

Apparently he can also sew and has sewn various items for some of the J-Teams members.

Des's Current Team

Containing a few carryovers from his last team Des's current team is battle centric.

Pria

AF-1

Kabuki

Jovi

Manami

Santo

Dio

Des's Old Team

Des's old team contains mostly Grass-Types as well as 'mons that resist Grass-Type weaknesses. His main battle strategy was to utilise status effects and manipulate the weather in order to set up for big swings. He gave this team to Sparkers who has since "released" them, though Des can call upon any of them if the need arises. The primary purpose of this team, however, was to be used on missions with each 'mon fulfilling a specific role on the team.

Poncho

Saltatio

Vladimir

Sparkers

Cera

BRG

Battle Record

• Vs. Sakura: Loss
• Vs. Hikari: Win
• Vs. Tesse: Loss (Intentional)
• Sparring Match with Jason (1): Won
• Sparring Match with Jason (2): Draw
• Sparring Match with Jason (3): Lost

Trivia

• Des absolutely adores cute Grass-Types, an odd trait for a former criminal.
• Doesn't really like Growlithes or Arcanines, though he dosn't seem to mind Sparkers or Grant.