Hiro "Reaper"

Personality

Positive Traits
Decisive - Description

Honest - Description

Alert - Description

Dedicated - Description 

Neutral Traits
Vulnerable - Description

Distrustful - Description

Tough - Description 

Negative Traits
Unstable - Description

Venomous - Description

Untrusting - Description 

Biography

Deep in the forest, beyond mountains and lakes, between rivers and hills, there lies a secret valley. Within that valley lives a community of strange pokemon, each and every one of them with the shared existence of being part Marshadow. How the community began is a mystery, but they think it is due to the immortal shadow pokemon who they all see occasionally, watching them. Most of the Marshadow hybrids were born in the valley, but some have repressed memories of a time before the valley, when their limbs weren’t quite so shadowy.

The truth is that many of the Pokémon of the valley were in mortal danger, dying because of illness or injury in various places around the world, and a Marshadow saved them from near-death by infusing them with its’ shadows. At first it had returned them to their former lives, but after several scares and witch-hunts, it began gathering the Pokémon it helped into this secret valley.

Generations passed. A Sawsbuck/Marshadow born within the valley fell in love with a Mudsdale/Marshadow, and they had a child together - a Deerling/Marshadow which the Sawshadow named Hiro. Unfortunately, the Sawshadow became ill and passed away, leaving the Mudshadow alone with a child to take care of. The Mudshadow hadn’t really intended on becoming a father, but now he was stuck with the fawn that reminded him so plainly of his lost love.

The Mudshadow happened to be well liked among the community, going so far as to become one of the leaders of the valley. He was well respected and known for being a caring, thoughtful, and attentive leader. This is why, when his child came to one of the other leaders of the community with tales of neglect and verbal abuse, they were not believed.

-Warning, child abuse-

But it was true. The Mudshadow would often speak to his child as though they were somehow responsible for the illness that had taken the life of his beloved. Hiro’s father would frequently forget to feed the child, leaving them to fend for themselves. Amenities like a good bed to sleep on were fought for as the Mudshadow would only unlock the door to Hiro’s room if he was pleased with the child’s behaviour. He would often forget to come home at night or arrive at odd hours, expecting a warm meal to be prepared and waiting for him on the table when he arrived, and if it wasn’t, he would berate the child, shouting at them and lecturing them on how worthless they were. On occasion, the Mudshadow would even hit the child or throw objects at them. Hiro’s only solace came when their father was drunk, and when they got older, they would often quietly add alcohol into his meals to make that happen more often.

Thinking that someone else in the community might be willing to hear their plight and help them, Hiro sneaked out of the house when their father was sleeping and went to one of the other community leaders, begging them for relief and an escape from their father. It… didn’t go well. The community leader they tried to get help from snitched, telling the Mudshadow what Hiro had told them. The Mudshadow laughed it off, explaining that the child had an active imagination, and returned home to berate and beat Hiro as punishment for such terrible ‘lies’.

This went on for a few years. Hiro would gain trust with someone, they would explain their situation and ask for help, and they would be laughed off. No one believed them. Some did, eventually, but they had heard the rumors and told Hiro that it was their own fault their father was hurting them, they probably deserved it for being such a disobedient child. 

One day, it all came to a boil. The Marshadow inherent in all members of the community was known to lash out at times, causing fits of anger or violence if not tempered. And Hiro was most certainly not tempered. The Shadow took over one day after a particularly violent outburst from their father, and Hiro's form became partially immaterial. He lashed out with anger and hatred at his father, leaving the older Pokémon covered in gashes and bleeding out. Coming to from their outburst, Hiro fled the valley in fear, never to return. They still have nightmares about that moment. 

-Content warning over-

Hiro wandered the woods and valleys and rivers and mountains for months... possibly years, until they stumbled upon a group of cheerful Pokémon. They watched them enviously. They… wanted to be happy. They followed those Pokémon around for a while until they were spotted, at which point one of the Pokémon rushed towards her threateningly. Hiro's immediate reaction of fear and apologising, followed by a quick explanation of why he'd been following them, earned him a quick apology and an offer of help. 

Hiro reached out and accepted the help, and was taken to the headquarters of these Pokémon, members of Team Rocket. With nowhere else to go, they decided to stick around. It was nice to have somewhere warm to sleep at night, so Hiro decided they might as well stay here. It was better than being alone in the woods, or back… with father.

As time passed, Hiro grew more comfortable in their new home. She was adopted by a kind Pyroar/Galarian Rapidash named Rooster, and got to know Rooster's family, which included Haribo, Stardust, and several children, both biological and adopted. Although she continued to struggle socially, at least she had Rooster to go back to in times of need. 

More time passed, and Hiro began to properly heal from their childhood, finding friends, hobbies, and other things to engage in. Eventually, the dark curse of greyness that covered their life was lifted, and Hiro found their fur was now a more deerling colour, having lost much of the Marshadow-like qualities. Unfortunately, this new joy was not to last, as in a horrid sequence of events, one of the young recruits, a Litleo/Arcanine named Tora, was kidnapped in front of several witnesses, and when Hiro ran to rescue the child, he was taken as well. 

-Warning, animal cruelty-

They were taken to a strange new place, a Pokémon fighting ring, and thrown into the pit to test their mettle. The opponent Hiro was put up against was a huge hooved Pokémon with dark fur, which triggered memories of pain and anger that caused the Marshadow to flare up for the second time in Hiro's life. They had to be pulled off their opponent after nearly killing the much larger Pokémon. That fight put dollar signs in the eyes of the people running the ring, and Hiro was soon to be their prized fighter. Except... the next fight they put him in, Hiro refused to fight, letting his smaller opponent beat him up and not putting up any resistance. 

This earned the ire of the owners, and Hiro was punished for refusing to fight. Although they were housed nearby to Tora, they rarely got to speak with the younger recruit, one or the other of them frequently pulled away for various reasons. With experimentation, the ring-runners discovered what would trigger Hiro's shadow - significantly larger, aggressive opponents. Pit them against anything smaller than them, and they would refuse to fight. Hiro earned somewhat of a nickname, in these fights - the ones against larger and stronger opponents. Reaper. 

About a year passed like this, and the humans got frustrated with having to pick and choose opponents for this fighter so carefully. An idea was had, to make him darker. More dark-type might override that overly kind instinct and make their precious little fighter actually fight more. Eventually a procedure was undertaken, and Houndour DNA was infused into Hiro, then evolution was induced. Instead of creating a Sawsbuck/Houndoom/Marshadow as was intended, the Marshadow was somehow lost, leaving Reaper as a Sawsbuck/Houndoom, with Grass/Dark typing. 

Reaper was then put back into the fighting ring. She became a much more reasonable fighter - less murdery. They met another Houndour mix, the three-headed Zucker, who taught them how to fight in a way that would please the audience, without necessarily murdering their opponent. Reaper was placed nearby to Tora's cage, allowing her to meet Diablo, a fighter who Tora had gotten close with over the months of their confinement. 

About another year passed in the rings, until a chance opportunity arose. Reaper and Tora were placed in the ring together, at the same time as somewhat of a commotion occurred, and the two of them, along with Diablo and another friend Tora had made, escaped, returning home to Rocket Hideout.