Subway Boss Emmet [Desert, Hoenn]

Emmet Gainsboro was born alongside his brother Ingo to two loving parents in Mistralton, Unova. His early life was nothing too spectacular, but it would shape the events to come; a pleasant, hyperactive, curious little boy, Emmet was decently liked by his peers. Ingo, with his resting bitch face, difficulty socializing, and general lack of enthusiasm, was not. As Emmet liked taking his beloved twin wherever he went, the other children stopped spending time with Emmet, aware he would bring Ingo along. The boy remained blissfully unaware for a short time, but children are not always the best secret keepers and it wasn't very long before Emmet overheard some of the kids he thought were his friends.

"Eugh, don't invite Emmet; he'll bring his creepy brother."

Betrayed and hurt, Emmet withdrew, giving up on the other children to play exclusively with Ingo. Worried about their boys' isolation, Mr. and Mrs. Gainsboro at first tried to get the boys involved in an after school activity, settling on MMA. Though the brothers excelled at it, they managed to keep their distance from the other children in the program for the years they participated, foiling their parents' efforts to try to nudge them to make more friends. Not wanting to force the issue, but knowing they needed to do something, Mr. and Mrs. Gainsboro decided to give the brothers the chance to set out on their cross country Pokemon journey at ten years old instead of pleading with them to remain in school for another year as they'd planned to do. The parents acquired a pair of Klink, one with the Plus ability and the other with Minus, to give to their children; they found that giving two Pokemon with abilities that complemented one another to two boys whose personalities complemented one another a cute idea. Enthused by their starter Pokemon, Emmet turned a grin on his brother and said, "Plus and minus; we should call them Multiply and Divide!"

This would begin a long history of Emmet accidentally naming Ingo's Pokemon, for Ingo's Klink decided she liked the name and would go by no other. Ingo was not amused.

A short time after this Emmet decided it would be a fine adventure to try to climb to the top of Celestial Tower; slipping away from his brother while Ingo was napping beneath a tree, he entered the tower and actually managed to get pretty high up before the Litwick overwhelmed Multi. Scared, he snatched up his Klink and ran, crashing into another boy in his failed attempt to flee. Though the other child's own Klink put up a brave fight, he too, was knocked out. The ghosts were not happy with these children trespassing in their territory, and things would have gone very badly if not for an Elgyem's interference; the little alien shooed the ghosts away. Ingo, having woken up to find his brother missing and recalling him expressing a desire to explore the tower, went in after Emmet and arrived just as the psychic type was dispersing the ghost candles. Scolding his brother and the other boy for their stupidty, Ingo dragged them both back to Mistralton so that Mrs. Gainsboro could read them the riot act. On the way out, the Elgyem and one of the Litwicks decided that the boys intrigued them and decided to follow, the Elgyem hovering around the blonde boy while the ghost candle hopped around Ingo's feet.

The other boy introduced himself as Colress, and after an awkward several minutes of being yelled at and fussed over by Mrs. Gainsboro, the children began to talk. Admitting he didn't know what Star Wars was when Colress named the Elgyem "R2D2" for his beeping noises, the enthusiastic young nerd dragged Emmet into the living room to show him. Over the course of the evening Colress mocked neither of the twins for their quirks and the twins in turn did not make fun of Colress for his obvious obsession with sci-fi. The night cumulated in a pillow fight for the ages when Colress and Emmet decided to argue over whether they were called "light sabers" or "laser swords" when they should have been sleeping, and the parents of the three boys decided that, while they'd all get grounded later for the entire Celestial Tower stunt... for now it was best to let the otherwise friendless children bond. And bond they did, the incident sealing their friendship and even getting new Pokemon; R2D2 decided to stay with Colress and the Litwick with Ingo.

When Colress's family went back to Lacunosa, the twins set out to visit a month or two later when they left on their Pokemon journey; learning their friend was having bully problems, they decided to stay in town for a while to protect him from his bullies, staying in the Pokecenter at night and training during the day when Colress was in class. For a few years they passed the time this way, training when their friend was unavailable and looking after him when they could; they got into numerous hijinks when Colress was not at school and explored every inch of the town together. By high school things seemed to be settling down for Colress, and as the boy still wanted to continue with his schooling, the twins bade him farewell and set out to hit the Gyms. With their teams trained in advance they moved quickly through the region, though after they acquired their sixth badge in their hometown they decided to check out Gear Station, the place having intrigued them since they were small children with a love for trains. They began riding the battle subway, their fighting prowess with Pokemon battles capturing the attention of the current Subway Bosses. After a time, they were taken on as apprentices, with the title and duties of "Subway Bosses" being passed onto them once the current heads decided to retire. By this time Colress was headed off for college in Kalos, and though their new lives were busy, the friends kept in touch, maintaining the bond easily through weekly phone calls and care packages through the mail.

Unfortunately such joy never lasts forever and tragedy struck it down. One fateful night the Gannon parents were killed in a horrific car wreck. Devatstated by the loss, Colress flew in to Unova to settle the affairs, the Gainsboros immediately taking him in as one of their own and guarding him fiercely. Mr and Mrs Gainsboro helped Colress handle the legalities while the twins handled his emotional state, protecting him from intrusive acquaintances of his parents and ensuring that he ate and slept. To force himself to recover from the loss, Colress returned to school and threw himself headlong into his studies, the twins returning to their own work and watching from afar, worried. At first it seems like their concern was for naught; Colress graduated early and among the top of his class, the graduation ceremony one of the fondest memories Emmet has. The good luck continued when Colress's work got the attention of a man who happened to be the head of a Pokemon rights organization. Fresh out of school, young and naive and eager to make his dead parents proud, Colress accepted the offer as soon as it was given and went to work for Ghetsis in Unova. The twins met the man shortly afterwards and while Ingo was put off by him, Emmet was drawn in by Ghetsis's silver tongue just as Colress was.

It was something Emmet would never forgive himself for.

The relationship between Colress and the twins strained a little when the twins tried to convince Colress to sell the Gannon family home, noticing how holding onto the house was only making him sad; Colress adamantly refused. The argument was brief, as Colress appeared to agree and sell the home shortly after it began, but the resentment lingered until the family's second tragedy; out one day to enjoy the marketplace, a rampaging Pokemon's Earthquake crushed the Gainsboro parents beneath a building damaged by the attack. Colress dropped everything to be by their side, uncaring if Ghetsis was annoyed by the move or not; he stayed for the funeral and for a week afterwards helping the twins to get back on their feet. Though none of them were by no means done grieving by the time Colress had to return to work, he left anyway, not wanting to lose his job. The twins held no ill will over this, but it would seal their fate. The fact that Colress was willing to abandon everything even for just a week for their sake made Ghetsis realize that if he were to ever nudge Colress into the more unethical subjects, he would have to isolate him completely.

He'd have to get rid of the twins.

Ghetsis began to make speeches; growing suspicious, the twins met with Colress about it, who vehemently defended Ghetsis. He claimed that Ghetsis didn't mean all Pokemon should be released, just the abused ones. It was more humane than forcing abused Pokemon to be around humans. The twins weren't so sure that's what he meant, believing that Ghetsis meant all Pokemon and not just the abused ones. Neither side could be convinced and they parted on a sour note; though the relatioship was not ruined, it was not in the best condition. The speeches began to get more sinister; the one in Accumula town was the last straw, and the twins left to speak to Colress again. On their way they were accosted by the Shadow Triad. The ninjas told them they were to cut contact with Colress as of right then; if they did not, the Triad could kill, abduct, or torture the scientist since they knew exactly where he was and the twins only knew the general area. If they should go to the authorities, the Triad would still get there first.  

Unwilling to take a chance that it might be a bluff, the twins returned home, living in fear at the realization that, being literal ninjas, the Triad could be watching them from their own home. It was as bizzare as it was terrifying. Why would ninjas have such a keen interest in Colress? What could he possibly have that they would want? The only explaination Emmet could draw was that the ninjas must be working for Ghetsis, but it was not a theory he could prove or even voice to anyone besides Ingo. In whispers, because what if the Triad heard? Finding out who their boss was would surely count as breaking the rules the ninjas had left for them, right?

Forced to play by Ghetsis's rules, they waited for an opportunity, tortured every time they had to ignore Colress's attempts to speak with them and horrified when Ingo's original prediction about there being something off about Ghetsis turned out to be far more true than they ever could have believed. To the twins' delight, Ghetsis was defeated not long after revealing his true colors, but their joy was short lived. As Plasma dissolved, there was no sign of Colress; their friend had vanished into thin air, as had Ghetsis himself. For the next two years the twins waited in terror for any sign that Colress was alive, searching for him on the down low, certain that Ghetsis had abducted him but afraid hat making the search too public would provoke his wrath.

Two years later they were still lowkey searching for him whenever they could, and finally they got a break; a man bearing Colress's description had been seen around Unova in various places. Despite their best attempts at finding him, the closest they ever got was the Driftveil Tournament, but they arrived too late and the contest had concluded. They were able to confirm from the pictures the staff had of the participants that Colress had been among those who competed, but it spawned more questions than answers. If Colress truly was travelling the region, why? He was a captive of Ghetsis and probably being forced to help carry out his next plot; what was the purpose of having Colress travel around? What was the point of having him enter the tournament? It made no sense to them.

But a break was a break and they grasped at it.  Returning later during the very beginning of the World Tournament, they passed out Colress's picture--the one of him taken at his graduation--to anyone who was willing to take one, writing their number on the back so that they could be contacted if Colress was spotted. They didn't pass out too many--if it caught Ghetsis's attention they could be putting Colress in grave danger--but it was at least something that they could do. Though the memory faded with each passing day, one of the people Emmet gave the picture to was a boy with wild red hair. Maybe it was his hair that made his memory stand out, or maybe it was the look of pain in his eyes. Either way, the news of Ghetsis's defeat chased the boy from Emmet's thoughts and raised his hopes, only to crush them again when Colress was again nowhere to be found.

Had they gone too far? Had word gotten back to Ghetsis and he'd had their friend silenced? Emmet feared they may never know the answer, especially as the time dragged on. Another two years passed.

What happened next would change the world forever.

Monsters overtook the land as a strange virus that killed Pokemon and rose them from the dead began to spread throughout the land. Though not Gym Leaders, the twins were still an authority in the city and did their best to evacuate others, waiting as long as they could before having to evacuate themselves. They tried to save their Subway Pokemon and could not, the way to the Subway blocked by too many hoards. Devastated, they fled Nimbasa and attempted to survive the cruelties of the new world on their own, taking the opportunity of the world being turned upside down to look for Colress. They sadly did not get far in their search before a hoard separated them, a large flock of undead birds attacking and forcing the brothers to run for their lives. Emmet wasn't sure when he stopped running, but by the time he did he was hopelessly lost and hadn't even noticed his beloved hat being stolen from his head until he realized his head throbbed and that he had lacerations on his scalp from a pair of talons. Apparently an undead had gone for his head, missed, and grabbed his hat.

More upsetting by miles was his missing brother. Though he tried to locate him, the days stretched on into weeks, and Emmet only grew more lost with each step.  Unwilling to give up but realizing he could not find Ingo if he were dead, Emmet made survival his first priority and swallowed back the pain as best he could. Over the course of the next few weeks he salvaged his mind and pieced himself back together, determiend not to let the epidemic steal his mind or warp his personality. Unfortunately with Ingo gone, Emmet's main impulse control was gone. It was this and his confidence in his own skills that would lead to making the biggest mistake of his life; finding a cave that he was unwilling to find a way around, Emmet was sure there was nothing in there that couldn't be handled by his powerful team and ventured inside. Though it went smoothly at first, it all went wrong, as most tales during the epidemic tend to do; an undead hoard ripped apart his Eelektross, and to ensure the others escaped pursued by the undead that were gaining, his Gigalith sacrificed himself to wreck the place with a cave in, bringing down hundreds of pounds of rock to block the exit and killing himself in the process.

Emmet was heartbroken, destroyed by the foolish mistake he'd made. To believe that he was invulnerable to such a thing just because his team was powerful! It horrified and disgusted him, and it had cut short two lives who had very much deserved to live. The tragedy was not over, the conductor losing his Crustle within the month. As the epidemic continued with no end in sight and the remainder of living, human and Pokemon alike, grew more hostile, Emmet felt himself beginning to lose hope. The guilt over all his mistakes, the old and the more recent, allowed him little change to recover from the inevitable realization that the epidemic was reality now, and reality that was going to stay for at least another decade, if not more. Clinging to the hope that Ingo and Colress are still alive out there somewhere and using the gift that Colress had given him long ago as a way of hanging onto that hope, Emmet searches for them, fighting to stay alive despite all the odds.

He seems to have gotten himself lost in a desert...

:taurus: Ingo: Emmet's twin brother and his favorite train nerd.  The two have been together for as long as they can remember, never apart for more than a week's time.  Being each other's only close friends before and after Colress's time in their lives, the two are deeply connected and always in sync, able to exchange full sentences with one another with subtle expressions, such as a glance. Ingo's calm, level-headed wisdom compliments Emmet's bright, cheerful, amiable disposition, the brothers using this balance between them to tackle whatever challenge they are presented with, be it the bullies of their childhood, the arduous task of training their Pokemon and collecting gym badges, or running Gear Station. Where fighting prowess is concerned Emmet considers Ingo an equal even though Ingo sees Emmet as someone who he needs to protect; when fighting with Pokemon it's a different story on Ingo's part. Even with his protective streak, he cannot deny Emmet's talent and skill in the area of Pokemon battling, which Emmet appreciates.  

Ingo is responsible for keeping Emmet in line, stopping him from acting on the first idea that pops into his head and dragging him out of trouble he manages to dig himself into. Though it might seem at first glance that Ingo is the only useful one when it comes to a debate, the two work well when it comes to such things; both possessing quick wit and a healthy amount of stubbornness, Ingo has helped Emmet argue his position on many subjects, using his stoic nature to prevent evidence and deflect or reject arguments while Emmet uses his knowledge of how people work to ensure that they don't accidentally anger the person they want something from.

Neither twin has ever wanted the other to change-- they respect each others' differences and defend them rigorously to those who would sneer at them, even to the point of abandoning previous friendships, as young Emmet did with his friends when they scorned Ingo. Gainsboro relatives, alarmed by this, sought to have the twins separated so as to force them to make other friends, which Emmet and Ingo's parents rejected. Such incidents might explain why the two are a bit clingy when it comes to one another; the notion of being forced apart frightened them, so they drew even closer.

Oblivious about being the more well liked twin due to his sociable nature, Emmet does envy Ingo for how he's regarded as the more competent one. It's something he hates about himself and buries as deeply as he can.

When standing together, Ingo is always on the right. When standing with Colress, the same still held true, with Ingo on Colress's right and Emmet on his left.

:taurus: Colress: His favorite sci fi nerd. Having known Colress since they were very young, Emmet is well acquainted with his quirks and in turn Colress is in tune with his; both possessing zero impulse control, the two dragged one another into messes and crazy adventures galore as children and teenagers, often accompanied by an exasperated (and sometimes amused) Ingo. Having grown up together as the only friends the three of them had, he, Colress, and Ingo are incredibly close; the three of them are platonic soulmates, their very beings just working with one another in a way few relationships in a person's life ever do. Not shy about their closeness, the three of them got into the habit when younger of always touching each other in some manner-- leaning on one another, placing their hands on each others' shoulders or backs, hand holding, etc. It was something they never grew out of (Emmet in particular has a habit of grabbing hands and pulling whenever he sees something exciting he wants to drag the other over to see) and often confused outsiders into believing Colress was dating one of the twins when it was not true. They shared many inside jokes, quoted movies at one another, and even as adults, indulged in being childish together. Colress has always been someone Emmet saw as needing protection, an instinct probably stemming from protecting him from bullies when they were all young. He did everything in his power to do right by Colress, especially after he lost his parents and the Gainsboros became the only family he had left. Their friend's disappearance weighs on him heavily; not a day goes by where he didn't think of him, and that holds true to this day. He clings to the hope that Colress is still alive, but as time wears on he admits more and more often to himself that his dear brother probably died all those years ago when Plasma collapsed for the second time. He envies Colress's brilliance, mistaking his friend's genius for wisdom. Like with Ingo, he hates himself for it and bottles it away.

When standing together, Colress would always stand in the middle.

:taurus: Elesa: Nimbasa's Gym Leader, the twins are well acquainted with her as she likes to roam her city when she is not at the gym. They have had many a conversation with her at Gear Station, even gone to dinner together after the work day several times. Emmet considers her a friend, but the two are not super close. He worries for her, praying she survived the fall of the city.

:taurus: Blair Black: A young boy whom he met at Gear Station. Possessing great battling skills, Black has cleared the twenty first victory in a row prerequisite needed to battle Emmet, and both he and his brother have met him.  He has had a few conversations with Black, as the boy liked hanging about the Station, but after a while Black moved on to other callings; being only an aquaintence, the two did not keep up communications and he has not see him since.  He remembers him fondly, and likes to recount battles he's had with him. There are several people Emmet believes if the world had more people like them there would be fewer people like Ghetsis around; Black is one of those people, having left an impression on Emmet despite the two not becoming close.

:taurus: Mei and Nate: Two years after Ghetsis's failed takeover attempt and shortly after Blair's departure to Opelucid, Emmet met Mei and Nate; two children who look so alike he mistook them for twins at first. He and Ingo were battling passersby that day outside the Station, it being one of their days off but the brothers also suffering from a deep boredom. The battle was fun, charged with energy; though they left afterwards, Emmet hoped to see the children around the Station sometime.

:taurus: Chili: Another youngster he met one day while asking about Colress at the start of the World Tournament. He passed him Colress's picture-- a photograph of the three of them taken at Colress's graduation-- and wrote his number on the back, asking Chili to contact them should he see their friend. Chili agreed and the two never saw one another again, but the encounter would change Chili's life forever while with Emmet the memory would dim as the years dragged on.

:taurus: Ghetsis: Absolutely despises him for all the obvious reasons; after all, the man did use his own son to try to take over the region, tried to trick everyone into releasing their Pokemon, stole Pokemon, generally walked over anyone and everyone to get what he wanted, and roped Colress into this entire mess. Emmet is fully convinced Ghetsis was the one who sent the Triad after them and that he also abducted Colress after Plasma's first failure. However, he he has no evidence of any of this and was too paranoid of word making it back to Ghetsis to voice this to anyone but Ingo.

There are not many people Emmet would be instantly violent with. Ghetsis is one of the exceptions.

:taurus: Shadow Triad: Literally fuck them. Whether Emmet is wrong about Ghetsis sending them or not, the Triad still did their part in separating the twins from their beloved friend when he needed them most.  On top of that, their skills as literal ninjas made both brothers too paranoid to do anything about it; the Triad made Emmet feel caged in his own home, leaving him in a state of constant fear of what could be lurking in the shadows of his own living quarters, and Emmet despises them for it. He would put a bullet in their heads in an instant if he could.

-The soothe bell was a present from Colress-- partially a joke but still heartfelt, the bell has a short message inscripted on it as well as Emmet's name and Colress's name; he keeps this bell on his person at all times in his pocket, the item stuffed with cloth so that he wouldn't have to dismantle the thing to keep it quiet. At night he often takes it out to look at it, and listen to it chime if it's safe to make noise.  It has very much become a security item, something that Emmet uses as way to force himself to just keep believing everything will be okay
-The joke behind the bell is twofold; it's a reference to the twins' favorite childhood story made into a movie (the Polar Express) and in Emmet's specific case, his habit of wandering off; the bell would let the other two know where he went. It's not true; they didn't actually use the bell in tracking his movements, but it's what they like to tell people as a friendly jab towards Emmet.  
-is fluent in German as his parents spoke it frequently around the home from the time of his infancy onwards; sometimes slips into using German when angry
-His Crustle's name was Pizza Pasta (shortened to Pizza), his Eelektross's name was Digit, and his Gigalith's name was Wizard.
-knows MMA (mixed martial arts) and will not hesitate to break a limb if threatened
-does not actually know how to shoot properly and his rifle is mostly used as a deterrent
-he is used to mimicking his brother's movements and gestures unconsciously and will likely begin to imitate the movements of anyone he may meet who he takes a liking to-- he does not do this mockingly and usually doesn't even realize he's doing it
-when under distress he would tug on the brim of his hat so it would cover his eyes; he no longer has the hat but the habit is still there, so he'll reach up to tug it down only to then remember he doesn't have the hat anymore.  He'll turn the gesture into running his fingers through his hair to disguise the fact he forgot he doesn't have his hat
-he has the little Legend figurines because they were important to his mother, not because of his own religious preference
-Maximum and I have collaborated extensively with the user Colress and these are the fruits of our labor enjoy