Pokemon Trainer Chili [Inactive]

Life was not a happy thing for Chili; Edward and Belladonna Maize were many things, but to call them decent or even passable parents would be a blatant lie. The boy grew up alongside his triplet brothers in a household that was ruled by the adults with an iron fist, his parents treating their children the way they felt children ought to be treated: things that are owned by their parents, that exist to bring honor to the family name and to make life as perfect as possible for the parents, whatever the cost may be to themselves. Firmly of the belief that children should behave as mini-adults, that to be adult is to be collected, calm, and professional at all times, and that children are naturally disobedient things that must be punished when they slip up to teach them right from wrong, the triplets' lives were as a result full of fear and stress from the very beginning. Their distinct personalities were early in emerging; Cilan, the most obedient, was a bright child talented at school, easy to cow and eager to please. He became the Maize's golden boy, their best chance at getting ahead in the world, and so the slightest misstep on Cilan's part would cause them to panic and punish him horrifically, the punishments usually beatings or the loss of a meal or two.  

At the opposite end of that scale was Cress, who was so incapable of earning his parents' praise that he gave up all together and became rebellious, constructing the façade of a confident, arrogant boy to protect himself from further damage even as he suffered the same horrific punishments at home that Cilan did for his rebellion.

The differences between Cilan and Cress largely differed in the way they were spoken to and the rewards they received; rewards were rare and typically consisted of praise (albeit backhanded praise) and were never given to Cress. Insults towards Cilan tended to be passed off as jokes to which Cilan was being too sensitive over, to Cress they were blunt, and to Chili it was like an afterthought.

With Cilan as the "favorite" and Cress as the delinquent, the two took up a lot of the Maize parents' time, leaving Chili as the invisible child. They did notice him sometimes--the only category they considered Cress to not be the lowest of the low in was intelligence, that honor being Chili's, and they targeted him relentlessly for his poor performance in school up until they stopped attending in order to start their trip. This trip took them to many places, but ultimately did not rescue them, the triplets being too afraid to simply leave their parents. When their masterful skill at their specific typings caught the eye of some of the gym leaders, they were approached with the opportunity to become gym leaders themselves; the first ones new trainers would face. Beyond excited, the triplets drew up a proposal for their gym; to combine it with a restaurant, as their passion was cooking, and for their gym pokemon to be the diminutive versions of their beloved monkeys, along with lillipups. This was accepted and the restaurant came into being.  

Unfortunately this only further trapped them. Their fear of their parents led them to setting up the restaurant in their hometown; though the money they brought in allowed them to move out, the apartment they got wasn't very far from the restaurant, which in turn wasn't far from their old home. Their parents dropped in uninvited often, keeping the triplets under their thumb. The one day they decided to take a break from their stressful lives, they missed out on stopping terrorists from destroying the country. Three of those same terrorists later approached them for battle, the Shadow Triad utterly destroying their teams- even implying they had picked the triplets specifically because they knew the boys could not beat them and thus, they'd provide easy stress relief.

It was this that made them realize they needed to quit being gym leaders and focus on raising their individual power and perfecting their culinary skills via the restaurant. Though a mature decision, their parents reacted violently, the abuse growing worse and worse.

And then the epidemic.

Their parents fled without a word to the brothers, leaving them to fend for themselves as they evacuated most of the city along with law enforcement. Their own escape was hampered by the waves of incoming undead, and the boys ended up fleeing into the forests, alone and afraid. As reality fully dawned on them, tensions rose higher and higher until one night, Cress snapped, accusing his brothers of harboring feelings of superiority over him and hatred for him. Chili fired back, the two ending up in a screaming match that Cilan was powerless to stop; it ended when Chili stomped away to collect more firewood.

Undead found him and while he tried to fight them off, Cilan came to his aid, only to be separated from him when a horde came through. Though Chili and his Pokemon survived and escaped, and even managed to find the campsite, it was empty. With only Cilan's bowtie and his own supplies left, Chili set out to find his brothers

Two years in he lost the majority of his team when one was infected and the infection spread to most of the others. He survived only because Angel pulled him into a crevice in the cliff wall, from which they listened as their friends tore each other apart. Even after they had destroyed one another until only one or two were alive and unable to move, crying for their human, Angel would not let Chili leave the safety of the crevice. It was only once the cries stopped completely that they left their hiding place, their team now down to one human and two pokemon-- Cheesecake only alive because she had been in her Pokeball at the time.

It's been a lonely two years since then...

:aries: Cilan: Chili had complicated relationships with both brothers; despite being triplets, he was never really close to Cilan; his brother being their parents' most obedient child meant their attention was on him constantly, especially as he grew older and their talents became more prominent. Due to being the invisible child, Chili had an opportunity that Cilan and Cress did not; the ability to melt into the background and hide. He used this all the time, never attempting to stop his parents from abusing either brother. He can't forgive himself for it.

:aries: Cress: Chili was grateful for his rule breaking to get them things they otherwise would not have access to, like candy on holidays.  Cress did a lot of rule breaking in order to protect his brothers or ease their pain, and it never went unnoticed or unappreciated by Chili. But Chili also made no attempt to stop their parents from abusing him, just as he did not attempt to protect Cilan, and he feels forever guilty over it. Especially given that their last exchange of words were cruel ones.

:aries: Alder: The region's champion who he met at his and his brothers' restaurant; Alder came by to try the restaurant on an afternoon when the place was empty, and through his kindness in forgiving Cilan's mistake when the triplet tripped on his way to deliver his order, the Champion captured their awe and gratitude. Unfortunately he never picked up that there was something wrong, and so he did not rescue the triplets from their situation.

:aries: Diantha: Visited the restaurant once and struck up a friendship with the triplets; though they quickly came to adore her, her visit to Unova was over all too soon and she had to return home. Too afraid to do something that may violate one of their parents' rules, the triplets did not maintain contact with her.

:aries: Elesa: Chili met Elesa when he and his brothers travelled the region in their bid to get gym badges. Sweet and friendly, full of spark and life, Elesa's attitude towards the world was a welcoming change to the atmosphere of terror that Chili grew up in. The electric master drew out Chili's hyperactive and excitable personality, but she could not break through his walls-- though to the casual bystander he seemed good friends with Elesa, Chili kept his family life a carefully guarded secret, never admitting either that or the effects such a horrid life had on his psyche. He misses her deeply, and hopes she is okay.

:aries: Ingo, Emmet, and Colress: Chili met the twins only once, when they were walking around outside the World Tournament, asking passerby if they'd seen Colress. When Chili stopped to listen they passed the boy Colress's graduation picture, so he would not forget Colress's face, and asked if he would keep an eye out for him.  Seeing how sad the twins seemed stabbed Chili in the heart, and it became clear how close they were to the missing man, so he agreed to call them should he spot their friend. They wrote their number on the back of the photograph, and Chili has held onto it ever since. Originally he was only going to keep an eye out for Colress and not deliberately go searching for him, but once he became separated from his brothers in the pandemic, he made locating the three a mission-- if they could find one another and live happily ever after, maybe Chili and his brothers could have a hope for their own happy ending. The photograph of Colress's graduation gives physical form to that dream, and thus he clings onto it, the picture now something of a security item.

:aries: Shadow Triad: fling yourselves into the sun please.

:aries: Lysandre: Big ole question mark at the moment gonna fill this in later.

-Pokemon all named after desserts. Chicoo was the Heatmor, Truffle the Darmanitan, Macaroon the Emboar, and Custard the Magmortar. Macaroon was the only male.
-hates the color purple; it brings him anxiety
-he prays to Victini for victory over his personal failings, Meloetta because he loves music, and Jirachi so that his wishes may come true
-he was a poor student due to a learning disability (probably ADHD) which is why he also finds such tasks like organization difficult