Zeal
| Name: | Zachary Motte |
| Nickname/Alias: | Zeal |
| Gender: | Male |
| Sexuality: | Unknown |
| Age: | 22 |
| Height: | Unknown |
| Ethnicity: | Unknown |
| Birthday: | May 20, 1995 |
| Attribute: | N/A |
| Trainer ID: | N/A |
| Home: | Cianwood City |
| Pokéform: | Tirtouga |
| Starter: | Fajro |
| Status: | Alive |
"A banana will be important soon!"
Zeal, real name Zachary Motte (sort of; it's complicated; see below) is the main player character of azealousindividual.
He has been searching for his lost Quilava Fajro for many years now.
Contents
Biography
Prior to meeting the J-Team
Zachary Motte grew up with his sister Lanie, his cousin Chase, and his close friend Isaac in Cianwood City. He'd frequently visit his other cousins Savannah and Celia in Goldenrod City, and they'd also occasionally go on family trips to other regions.
At some point, Zach and Chase decided to become trainers and set out on a journey together. Zach got his starter, a Cyndaquil named Fajro, from Dr. Kraus, a childhood friend of his mother and his Uncle Cavin. Chase chose Todd, a Vulpix who he'd hatched from one of his dad's eggs and had been friends with for a while, as his. The start of their journey was briefly stalled when Zeal found an injured and very out-of-place Sneasel on the island. He nursed her back to health and added her to his team, calling her Glavo. And so the two set off to battle all the Gyms of Johto (saving the battle in their hometown for last) and go on to challenge the Elite Four. As their journey began, Zach caught a Mareep he named Ŝafo. A few Gyms in, a Tyrogue egg Zach got from Dr. Kraus hatched. Zach wasn't around at the time, so Chase named him Batali with the help of a dictionary, breaking Zach's gimmick of using only Esperanto nouns for names only four mons in. And somewhere along the way they took a brief trip to Sinnoh, where Zach and Chase got into a bit of a fight and parted ways for a little while.
The two reunited and returned to Johto to finish their challenge, but decided to pay a visit to Dr. Kraus's home in Mahogany Town beforehand. There, Dr. Kraus excitedly explained an experiment he was working on involving mindscapes, and Zach and Chase volunteered as subjects. The experiment was meant to add an artificially-created aspect to the mindscape representing dedication to one's most heartfelt goals. He succeeded in the worst way, resulting in the creation of Zach's red-eyed aspect, firmly dedicated to protecting everyone he cared about by any means necessary. Chase's red-eyed aspect ultimately took total control of Chase, acting very dangerously and unpredictably. As RedEyes began to absorb more aspects of Zach's personality, he came to Dr. Kraus and formulated a new plan, where they'd force another non-evil aspect in Zach's mindscape to absorb other aspects as well to become more powerful and become the dominant personality. They forced Zach's Envy aspect to merge with as many positive aspects of his personality as possible, becoming the person now known as Zeal. Zach went on to kill Chase to prevent him from hurting anyone. And Fajro disappeared, never to be seen again. Completely broken, Zach sought the help of Todd to wipe his memory of this series of events. When he next woke up, Zeal was in control. Unaware of any of this, Zeal continued searching for Fajro for the next several years.
Kanjoh-2
Zeal first encountered the J-Team in Olivine City, where he had been staying recently. After a couple of brief heart-to-hearts with a few members about Fajro's disappearance and his hopes of finding him, he began to travel with them. In Ecruteak City, Zeal encountered Jacob for the first time. Jacob scoffed at Zeal, thinking him weak for letting Fajro get lost in the first place. They got into a fight that required the intervention of other J-Team members to help break up. Later on, Jacob apologized to Zeal and vowed to help with his search for Fajro, quickly becoming one of his closest friends. Zeal's search also reached a new milestone for the first time in years, as he found a necklace that disappeared with Fajro in the Dragon's Den during the J-Team's stop in Blackthorn City. While the J-Team were challenging the Elite Four, Zeal decided to challenge himself to beat all the Kanto Gyms before they finished. He battled Brock at the Pewter Gym, lost, and gave up on this challenge.
Unova-2
Upon arriving in Unova, Zeal made some new friends, avoided starring in a Pokéstar movie after finding out it involved Maractus, went to J-Con, and a bunch of other silly stuff, maybe getting a couple of badges along the way. At some point, Glavo let slip a detail regarding a portion of Zeal's past that Zach had erased, leading him to become suspicious of his own mons and unsure who to trust. When he reunited with Lanie, things only got stranger, as she revealed to others that Zach had blue eyes, while the Zeal we know now has green. The original Zach started trying to take back his body again, leaving Zeal with large gaps in memory. When Jacob tried to get closer to what was going on, RedEyes saw the opportunity to emerge. He warned Jacob not to interfere in anything, and when he refused to cooperate carved an X into his face with a Razor Claw Zeal had been saving for Glavo. When Zeal found out he did this, he released his mons and fled to Tubeline Bridge, planning to kill himself to stop RedEyes from hurting anyone else he cared about. He ultimately couldn't go through with it, and just waited around, hoping to just die of starvation or waste away or whatever else would end this, but his friends came around and talked him down. Zeal decided to join the others and investigate the missing pieces of his own past himself. Sometime shortly after, Zach took over again and returned home to Cianwood. He talked to Uncle Calvin, apologizing for Chase's death but maintaining he had nothing to do with it. He returned to Unova with Chase's mons and made his appearance during the final battle with Edge using Todd. Zeal continued traveling with the J-Team and tried to make things as normal (normal-ish, anyway; this is Zeal, after all) as he could given the situation. Zach and RedEyes continued to take over every now and then, with the latter trying to gain Zeal's mons' sympathy for future purposes.
Holon
While the J-Team was in Holon, Jacob continued searching for more information on what was up with Zeal's aspects. When Jacob was taken to court on charges of attempted murder, grievous bodily harm, and assault with malicious intent against Deimos, Zeal acted as his defense attorney. In the aftermath, Zach took over and admitted that he was the one who killed Chase. Zeal also reunited with Glavo and encountered Dr. Kraus again for the first time in a few years.
Orre
Zeal left for Orre a little sooner than the rest of the J-Team, having gotten word that someone may have spotted Fajro there. However, this lead was ultimately a dead end. Verax, then a Cipher member, misled Zeal into believing a Shadow Typhlosion was Fajro, speeding up his downward spiral that led to RedEyes taking over more and more frequently. When Lanie allowed herself to be taken hostage as part of the Cipher Commander Iulianus' gambit to find the traitors to his Octet and Zeal put together a group to rescue her, RedEyes took control and killed Prisoner. In retaliation, Iulianus lashed out with a knife, cutting through and permanently damaging Zeal's left eye. In the hospital, Dr. Kraus informed Zeal that Iulianus is his son Leander. RedEyes took over more frequently still before having his plans brought to an end with the help of Jacob and being permanently banished from Zeal's mind by Jirachi, at the cost of the original Zach disappearing as well. Somewhere along the way, Zeal also got word that his Uncle Calvin had completely and suddenly dropped off the face of the earth.
Kalos
When the J-Team went to Kalos, Zeal and Lanie decided to work together to get the Kalos Badges, with Lanie using her Pokémon and Zeal's pooled together. However, this soon changed as they started catching new mons and Zeal decided he wanted to battle the Gyms as well. Zeal lent Lanie his team, and built a new one with his newly caught Dento, Waffles, Verdo, and Flugilo, alongside Misery and Ealsh borrowed from his sister. Oko also hatched from an egg given to him by Joseph. Zeal and Lanie decided that, once they both collected all eight badges, they'd battle in front of the Kalos League to decide which of them would go on to face the Elite Four.
During all this, Zeal met a man calling himself Silvio, who gave Zeal evidence that Fajro might be in Kalos. This turned out to be another dead end, and it turned out Silvio faked the pictures that brought Zeal to Orre as well. Silvio would continue to manipulate and lie to Zeal for unknown reasons.
Once Zeal and Lanie collected all the Kalos Badges, they had their battle, which Lanie won. She went on to enter the Hall of Fame. But before there could be time any celebrations, Zeal got a message through Lanie's phone from someone called Æther, informing him that she had been taken hostage and would be killed if Zeal did not cooperate or informed anybody about this. Zeal tried sending an acrostic message to the other J-Team members asking for help, but Æther saw through this and replied with a picture of her charred corpse.
Ranger-2
Zeal was left broken after losing Lanie. He wiped his memory that she'd ever existed in a sad attempt to move past it but came to his senses thanks to Alice calling him a coward over it. Meanwhile, Zeal's father, Avery, became concerned over Zeal's recent lack of contact and came looking for him. Somewhere along the way, Zeal also became separated from Glavo and attacked by Boatman and his Scizor. Ultimately, everything piling up led to him abandon the J-Team and go off on his own for a while.
Hoenn-2
Zeal had been renting a place in Mauville City with none of his mons aside from Noel, and soon he reunited with the J-Team after several months away. Shortly after a brief partnership with Lucia, he met Gui, a Southern Island Latias sent to travel with him for her protection. The two quickly became close friends, and their friendship only grew stronger as time went on. The two also ran into Savannah, who they frequently traveled with throughout their stay in Hoenn. Soon after, Dr. Kraus visited Zeal and revealed that evidence was found suggesting Iulianus's death was faked. Zeal also got caught up in some shady stuff involving Dane Knox, a friend of Uncle Calvin's who took over his company after his disappearance.
After being tracked down by Boatman's Scizor and attacked twice more, Zeal realized that he needed more than one mon to be safe. He and Gui visited Almia and met Isaac, now a Pokémon breeder, who had been holding onto Zeal's mons and helping with the search for Glavo for the past few months. It turned out that Leon had gone missing just before Zeal had arrived. They tracked Leon down to Kraus Manor, where his Poké Ball was being held by Silvio, who handed Leon over without any trouble and left with a cryptic message. Zeal also found out that Silvio and Iulianus were cousins. Zeal then returned to Hoenn with his whole team. When Zeal and Gui were getting sad at the realization that they would have to part ways when the J-Team left Hoenn, they decided to take a trip to Mt. Pyre. There, they were attacked by Boatman one final time. Boatman had intended to kill Zeal to avenge Iulianus, but Zeal revealed Iulianus might still be alive. Boatman ultimately realized Zeal was not Iulianus's killer and left with the intent to search for clues regarding his death and possible survival himself. As the J-Team left Hoenn, Zeal and Gui decided to stick together, and she came along with him to Sinnoh.
Re: Glitch
Zeal paid a visit to Dr. Kraus along with Gui, Isaac, and Celia, where they had a long discussion trying to straighten out everything that happened and figure out what mysteries still needed to be solved. Kraus confirmed that Silvio is his adoptive nephew, explained many forgotten details from Zach's past and the circumstances surrounding Zeal's creation, and discussed the fates of the members of Iulianus's Octet. They also discussed the possibility that Lanie's death may have been faked, and that Iulianus's might have been faked in the same way, perhaps by the same person. Kraus also told the story of his niece Tatiana, who killed her own parents and aunt in the name of taking the Kraus-Salvai family fortune for herself, then disappeared without a trace when she was successful.
It wasn't very long after returning to Sinnoh before Zeal got a message from Æther about meeting in person. Knowing it was probably a trap, Zeal brought Sholto along just in case. Æther taunted Zeal with recordings of Lanie's final moments and the knowledge that Lanie's Pokémon had been Shadowed, then gave Zeal a gun and tried to drive him to take his own life. Ultimately, this did not go as planned, as Lanie was revealed to be alive after all and a man claiming to be Zeal's ancestor Youta intervened. Zeal and Sholto were able to rescue Lanie, but Æther escaped unharmed. Zeal and Lanie returned to Johto to be with family and rest for a while.
Alola
Zeal and Lanie were vacationing in Alola when they reunited with the J-Team. On Melemele island, Dr. Kraus tracked Zeal down and gave him information regarding someone connected to Lanie's mons being Shadowed. Zeal and Gui tracked down his warehouse and went off alone without telling Lanie. There they met Piers Nolan and a masked woman, who would have succeeded in capturing Gui if not for Lanie's timely and exasperated intervention. He has been helping Gui in her search for the masked woman's identity ever since.
Personality
Zeal is generally a very cheerful and very strange person who prides himself on being unpredictable. He famously has a penchant for pranks and messing with others. His jokes are usually harmless, but he has drifted into meaner territory a few times. Despite this, he usually has everyone's best interests in mind and tries to be a generally good person who helps whoever he can. Keeping the people he cares about safe is the absolute most important thing to him, which has caused problems since the people he cares about are, in most cases, better at protecting themselves than he is. In fact, because he seems to be a magnet for trouble, he often only ends up getting the people he cares about into situations that hurt them, a fact that is immensely distressing to him.
He is also obsessed with swimming and the color green, and terrified of Maractus for reasons that he has yet to explain.
Achievements
Zeal has received the following badges:
- Johto League:
- Zephyr Badge
- Hive Badge
- Plain Badge
- Fog Badge
- Mineral Badge
- Glacier Badge
- Unova League:
- Toxic Badge
- Insect Badge
- Wave Badge
- Kalos League:
- Bug Badge
- Cliff Badge
- Rumble Badge
- Plant Badge
- Voltage Badge
- Fairy Badge
- Psychic Badge
- Iceberg Badge
Zeal has otherwise not personally achieved anything particularly notable.
Pokémon
Trivia
- Zeal and DS are the only PCs who are blond with green eyes.
- Zeal is left-handed, a trait shared with Tagg, Mezzo, Sakura, and Fletcha.
- Once built a working robot out of ice with the help of Glavo.
- Has a law degree from a very sketchy college.
- Dressed as Hazama from BlazBlue for J-Con 2013, and again minus the hat while acting as Jacob's defense attorney. He also used a violin case instead of a briefcase during the latter.
- Carries two sombreros with him at all times.
- Has declared himself King Zachary Gennadius Motte III on more than one occassion. He keeps his real middle name a secret.
- Got into a debate using blue and red truths opposite the Golden Witch Beatrice.
| Zeal's Team | |
|---|---|
| On hand : | Ŝafo • Batali • Noel • Todd • Dento • Waffles • Verdo Flugilo  • Oko Lise • Macy • Leon • Kyra |
| Imprisoned in Sinnoh : | Glavo |
| Location unknown : | Fajro |
| As last seen in: Malie City, Alola | |
