Tommy Petersen
Thomas Andrew Petersen, known as Tommy and by his initials TAP, is an Unovan photojournalist with the Geographic Society. He mostly provides content for its news magazine, The Geographer Weekly, with his main claim to fame is taking pictures of his alter-ego Arachna-Guy, the Spinarak/Ariados-themed crime-fighter who patrols the streets of Castelia City. He is the secondary PC of JG-Says-Things-And-Stuff.
Appearance
Tommy looks like he was cloned from a sarcastic Hollywood Nerd template, a seemingly lanky young brown-haired male with a athletic build typically hidden in layers of clothing and a friendly face that makes you think "how is this good-looking guy an unpopular nerd" (well, at least up until he opens his mouth). As Arachna-Guy, he wears a makeshift-looking suit colored after a shiny Ariados comprising of a hoodie, balaclava, and a pair of goggles.
Personality
Awkward, adorkable, and annoying are the three words that describe little Tommy Petersen. Described as a good kid who's not quite dependable, the young lad often geeks out at the slightest provocation, quoting and referencing movies from the 80s like clockwork. Most people know him as the only photographer in The Geographer Weekly to consistently deliver clear (and incidentally very flattering) photos of the elusive superhero Arachna-Guy. He presents himself as an overenthusiastic Arachna-Guy fanboy and speaks praises of him constantly, which grates on a lot of people.
Part of his interest in the idea of Arachna-Guy may stem from his fondness for arachnid Pokemon. His starter is a Spinarak, Tobi, rescued from a Best Berry subsidiary laboratory involved in illegal experiments, and had worked alongside Professor Conroy Hawthorn in raising Kabutos in a facility at Castelia City University.
He lives with his Aunt April in Castelia.
His style of investigative journalism often involves staking out individuals from rather uncomfortable or unpleasant spaces, notably dumpsters.
Relationships
Both him and his alter-ego share a tenuous relationship with his boss, the former for dating his daughter Jane Stacy and the latter due to Hank's own doubts about the presence of superheroes, an idea that isn't as irrational as it would seem, or so he was told.
[Shutter] is one of the many friends he made at the Geographic Society and serves as an older brother figure and mentor. He also shares an almost familial relationship with [Gimbal]
One of his superiors at the Kalos division, Jean, serves as a tertiary father figure, though there may be tensions between them as he and Jean's daughter share a mutual attraction.
Both Jean's daughter Catelyn and Detective [Shun Hontou] have a crush on him.
He has become the immediate superior of Ivan, who recently became a Geographic Society intern.
Personal History
Tommy Petersen was orphaned at a young age and lived with his Aunt April and Uncle Ken after his father was killed by an ominous Team Rocket agent who was once tutored by his Uncle Ken. One day, when he was 15 and played hooky while on a field trip to a Best Berry facility, he discovered an elaborate and cruel Spinarak silk-harvesting scheme. Sensing "hey, free Pokemon," he stole an oddly colored Spinarak, which proceeded to bite him. This led to a contrived chain of events that would lead to Uncle Ken being killed by robbers who were watching a movie. As he lay dying, he told Tommy something he couldn't remember but, to his recollection, may have involved responsibility and power somehow. He couldn't really tell because the Spinarak bite was acting up and Aunt April was crying, but what little he did remember was etched in his mind.
In grief, he buried himself in his chemistry textbooks and began reading his uncle's old comic books, becoming rather fixated with superheroes in the process. When the opportunity to get paid to take pictures of a mysterious vigilante came, he seized his chance. Also, he anonymously had the Spinarak ring busted.
Tommy, upon sending high-res images of the elusive Arachna-Guy to Hank, triggered the editor's fixation on finding the true motives of Castelia's new vigilante. This launched his career at the Geographic Society. He started as intern and later took on a part-time staff job at the Geographer Weekly. Shutter had been tasked with introducing him to the ropes of the publishing industry and ended up befriending him. The two get along well and treat each other as friends.
Tommy's Pokémon
Trivia
- Tommy (and Arachna-Guy) is a not-so-subtle expy of Peter Parker/Spider-Man and began as a one-off gag in JG's signup test. His personality is generally based on Tom Holland's take on the character, albeit with a similar dress sense to Andrew Garfield's.
- Tommy's full name is an amalgam of two actors (Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield) who played Peter Parker, plus the name Petersen, modified from the signup test.
- Most of the people connected to Tommy are lampoons of Spider-Man-related characters
- Tommy's pokémon are all named for actors who played Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire, Shinji Tōdō, and Drake Bell)
- His present super-suit is patterned after the makeshift suit worn by Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Marvel's Spider-Man.
- A version of him wearing a scarf, fedora, a 90s plaid shirt, and circular sunglasses is called "Anachro-Guy."
