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superballPLAYER STUFF
Name: No
Pronoun: They/them
Email address: didyousaydestiny@gmail.com
Preferred contact: plurk @metaligatr; aim @the_baelhat
Other characters: none
CHARACTER STUFF
Name: Eugène Eustis
Aliases: Eusine (stage name); The Mysticalman (superhero alias)
Introduces himself as "Eusine" to everyone when in civilian clothes. Don't call him Eugène. Only his parents call him Eugène, please.
Canon: Pokémon Adventures
Role: Minor superhero with an unwarranted sense of self-worth and no sense of personal space
Species:
Gender: Male
Age: 21
Appearance:
Stage outfit
Superhero getup
He generally prefers formalwear to more casual clothing, even when he's not busy pulling rabbits out of his hat (HAH just kidding, he doesn't pull rabbits out of his hat. What do you think he is, a birthday party magician?)
Origin story:
Eusine's childhood was pretty much exactly what you'd expect from the only child of a wealthy Parisian family: he went to a renowned private school (where he failed to make many friends on account of being the Socially Inept Weird Kid), got every new shiny gadget as soon as it was out (often imported from America), and spent a good chunk of his evenings practising card tricks and listening to the tales of his wizard indiana jones grandpa.
... Fine, so maybe his childhood wasn't completely normal. The truth is, Eusine is descended from a long line of wizards; and while the family hasn't produced any noteworthy magic-user in forever, his grandfather was, in fact, quite skilled at detecting arcane energies. A skill he used during expeditions all over the world to look for magical artifacts, because why be a wizard when you can be a WIZARD CRYPTOARCHELOGIST? Needless to say, little Eusine couldn't wait for the day he'd be old enough to accompany his grandpa on one of his expeditions, hoping to make some discoveries of his own. Namely, what he really wanted to find was magical beasts, having been raised on tales of mighty wizards teaming up with strange creatures in order to STRIKE DOWN EVIL.
His grandpa wouldn't take him with him until he were older and his own magical powers awakened, however. Eusine's parents (two entirely non-magical humans perfectly content with not having to deal with whatever crazy schemes wizards are generally up to) were hoping really hard that the magic had died with them and that their child would turn out to be as boringly normal as they were. And for the longest time, it looked like their wish had been fulfilled: Eusine grew up from an awkward kid into an awkward teenager, and still whatever powers he might have failed to reveal themselves. Eusine never lost hope that he'd one day be a POWERFUL WIZARD, though, merely wishing that it'd be sooner than later.
A wish he'd soon come to regret.
The first time Eusine's powers manifested, it was in reaction to the tragic news that his grandfather had mysteriously disappeared during one of his expeditions on the other side of the world. His isn't the kind of power that makes walls tremble, but it did make windows shatter; the sight of their distraught son, his eyes aglow with magic, was something Eusine's parents would never forget.
With no one left to teach him how to use this newfound magic (not that his pride would have let him admit he had no idea what he was doing), Eusine did his best to train his abilities on his own. His best... wasn't much, and resulted in more broken glassware than his family could count, but it was enough for him to decide to take up superheroics. After all, what's the point of having powers if you don't use them to show off? Please.
It's first under the name of "Mystique-Man" that he decided to take on common thugs and petty criminals, always leaving behind a single playing card marked with his personal emblem. He soon went international and switched to "Mysticalman", however, when people started calling him "moustique-man" ("mosquito-man") instead due to his stubbornness and the fact he can be annoying as hell. His parents disapprove of both his career choices (feeling that stage magic and superheroics aren't exactly jobs with prospects), but continue to support him out of love... for now.
After having spent some time travelling around Europe, his thirst for adventure and neverending search for mythical creatures -and for hints about his grandfather's whereabouts- now take his steps to LA...
Personality:
One of the first things one might notice about Eusine is what an utter, gigantic tool he is.
First of all, he greatly enjoys the sound of his own voice. You'd be hard-pressed to shut him up when he starts talking, which is made even more aggravating by the fact he doesn't actually have an indoor voice: only an outdoor voice, and a slightly less loud outdoor voice. What does he keep babbling about so loudly, you ask? Why, himself of course! Eusine doesn't doubt a second that he's the bee's knees, and he really wants to make sure everyone knows that. He is, after all, the protagonist of his own story, a dashing hero who fearlessly battles evil and gets the girl at the end! ... Or so he thinks. He really has a flair for theatrics (admittedly a useful personality trait, for an illusionist), and sees nothing wrong with spewing purple-prose about the wind at strangers or making grandiose, exaggerated gestures. Both his body language and face are very expressive, and he's absolutely shameless; add to that his complete disregard for personal space and his tendency to play up the ~suave Frenchman~ card, and you get someone... rather unforgettable, to say the least.
Second, he can be kind of petty. He absolutely loathes having to own up to his mistakes, especially when said mistakes weren't (in his opinion) actually his fault. It wouldn't be so bad... if it didn't mean he has no problem conning innocent people out of their hard-earned money just because he doesn't feel like paying for the things he breaks. He's surprisingly good at getting out of situations with deceit, whether it be in civil life or during his stunts as a superhero: just like he's likely to distract the person calling him out on his shitty behaviour to make them forget about it, he's more likely to confuse his opponents until they hurt themselves than use brute force on them. Unfortunately, he's not immune to being deceived himself, especially when it comes to his obsession for magical creatures. Make a convincing enough fake, and he'll be too busy crying with happiness to notice something's fishy (even with his ability to detect magic.) Once the trick has been revealed, however, his tendency to use this kind of tactic himself means he'll generally be pretty good at figuring out why the enemy used a diversion.
Truth be told, Eusine may or may not have a tendency to deceive himself. He can be pretty delusional, thanks to a mix of his own insufferable ego and his inability to mope for more than five minutes. He has an uncanny ability to bounce back when things don't go his way, partially because he convinces himself that he's so amazing and heroic of course he'll succeed next time. It's not quite Pollyanna-level, but it's there. This probably isn't healthy but hey, he hasn't had a mental breakdown so far so it's good, right?
For all his flaws, though, Eusine isn't as incompetent as he seems. His dislike for routine makes him very adaptable: he has no problem rolling with whatever sudden development life might throw at him, and he's pretty adept at thinking outside the box. Most important of all, though, he's extremely driven: when he wants to do something, he doesn't do it in half measure. He's the kind of person who won't stop until he's achieved his goal, and the truth is he isn't even bad at finding magical creatures; he just always fucks up the part where he approaches them on account of acting like a weird creepy stalker with ulterior motives (no guys come back he just wants to know if you know where his grandpa is and be best friends forever.) He also has a bit of a competitive streak, provided the competition is actually worth his time. He likes having "rivals" (friendly rivalries, really) to keep things interesting, but draws the line at villains and complete hacks. He's just really spirited and emotional as a whole, and it's easy to get him excited about something, from local urban legends to the latest
And while it's true he's more than a little vain he is not, in fact, completely egoistical. He might occasionally con people who didn't deserve it, but he does have a moral compass, and will sacrifice his own interests in the blink of an eye if it means helping a greater cause. He notably dislikes seeing other people risk their lives or get hurt, even when said people have proven themselves to be more than competent, and will generally prioritize other people's well-being over his in dire situations. And despite his ego he's surprisingly fine with the fact that yes, some people are just better at some things than he is (although he'll take offence if you think you're better at doing anything he considers himself an expert in), and he doesn't like blaming people for things they couldn't possibly control ("people" including himself, obviously.)
All in all, he's larger than life to the point of obnoxiousness, but he's undoubtedly a good person at heart. Become his friend, and you've got yourself a loyal, dependable ally who will never let you down.
(He might give you a headache though.)
Differences from canon:
-The most obvious difference is that he can't have been hunting Suicune for ten years since Suicune doesn't even exist. Instead, he has an obsession with trying to team up with creatures of legend, but it's less prevalent than in canon and kind of takes a backseat to superheroics. He will totally start rambling about purple-prosey bullshit the second someone mentions unicorns though.
-His Pokémon and his best friend Morty are also obviously not there. Morty might be someone he already knows though.
-His family is French wizards, which is... kind of a big difference, I guess. He might be a bit insecure about not being able to do GREAT MAGICAL FEATS like some of his more powerful ancestors but this being Eusine you'd have to try really hard to get him to admit it... even to himself.
-His grandfather has a more important role than in canon, in which he's "only" the person who told little Eusine tales about legendary Pokémon (which is only mentioned in passing in the game; nothing in the manga contradicts this though so I just run with it) and doesn't have any impact on present Eusine beyond "why oh why did you have to tell this kid about Suicune". In this AU, Eusine is actively looking for clues as to what might have happened to him, thinking that maybe those sinkholes might have something to do with it (which likely isn't the case but he'll take any hint he can get, really.)
Power level: D, but resourceful enough to buy some time against your average supervillain without being horribly murdered if need be. He wouldn't be able to defeat one without the help of more skilled superheroes though (and let's be real, in this situation it'd be more accurate to say he'd be helping them defeat the supervillain instead of the other way around. Did someone say "secondary character"?)
Powers:
Despite having some magical ability, Eusine's main "powers" come from the technology he carries around with him. The most notable is the ROCKET SPATS he uses to fly (because really, who needs jetpacks when you can just strap rockets to your regular shoes), but he also has two big gauntlets chock-full of various gadgets that range from smoke bombs to a hologram machine. Basically, if you can use it to confuse or incapacitate a bad guy, there's a chance he has it; he however doesn't carry anything that could actively harm people, such as guns. So I guess he's more or less like a shitty magic Batman.
Said gadgets also include small dolls of his superhero persona that can serve as walkie-talkies. Because of reasons.
Eusine's magical powers are a form of hyalokinesis, or glass manipulation; this includes lead crystal, mirrors and glass-ceramics but not things that look like glass like diamonds or quartz. Unfortunately, his magic is much weaker than that of his ancestors (who were renowned for the quality and durability of their work, as the great crystal unicorn sculpture that was passed down Eusine's family for generations can attest) and he lacks any kind of formal training, so anything beyond moving, breaking and bending glass is out of his reach. Additionally, using his magic makes Eusine's eyes light up and his hair go wild (controlling the flow of magic is hard, okay), which is pretty much a zero on the discretion scale. This doesn't bother him when he's being all ~superheroic~ since it slightly helps hide his secret identity (although he complains about having to comb his hair back into proper human shape a lot), but it does make using his powers without being noticed by the bad guys impossible. This isn't even counting the tiny glass particles that tend to appear around him whenever he's using his magic, which make him look like he's sparkling. It's very ridiculous... but then again, Eusine is a very ridiculous person. And it does bring up the possibility of being able to summon more than small slivers of glass, with time and training. Being able to summon bigger things could have its use. ...Stabbing people with glass? What, does he really look like an uncultured lout? (Yes, he is a goddamn cartoon character.)
If you only take sheer power into account, he remains on the weak side of the superpowers scale; however, he successfully managed to integrate his glass-bending with the kind of trickery he cherishes as an illusionist and his love for new technologies, making him more resourceful than he seems. And while he's lightweight and not exceptionally strong, he's deceptively muscular. You'd never believe it just looking at his skinny magician self, but he actually has some nice pecs. He, uh, also has the ability to strip down to his underwear in less than five seconds, as demonstrated here. His physical strength mostly lies in his endurance, though. It's far from being supernatural, but it's above average. No one really knows where he finds all that energy, but it's everyone around him who is likely to end up exhausted. (No, he doesn't actually sap their strength. He's just obnoxious.)
As a wizard he also has an innate ability to sense magic, which is how he manages to be at least somewhat successful in finding magical beasts, even if the "approach" and "don't act like a gigantic tool" parts always fail. It's more of an intuition than a power he can turn on and off. He scoffs at your charge-based DnD magic. Scoffs. Even though said DnD magic would be a lot better at figuring out what the detected magic even is. Scoffs, I say.
His English is also pretty damn good (if a bit flowery), which is a power as far as I'm concerned because French people suck at foreign languages.
Team affiliation: None! He's definitely not averse to working with people, but he likes his freedom.
First person sample:
[The following letter was found on a pair of unconscious Aqua grunts left tied-up near a police station, along with a playing card bearing some strange emblem shaped like a crystal.]
Greetings, policemen of Los Angeles!
It all started with a stroll through the streets of your beautiful city -how bright, the city of angels, when the moon shines down upon it!- when I ended up in one of its more picturesque back-alleys. It was fate, that night, that must have taken my steps to this particular place, for when I arrived... I found these men -nay, these miscreants!- trying to steal the possessions of a helpless old man. Having been graced with an infallible sense of right and wrong, I simply could not stand such a vile sight. It is why I decided to deal with those villains myself, incapacitating them before they could even react! One swift move was enough, and soon my victorious form emerged from the fight, basked in the righteous moonlight of a deed well done! It must have been quite a sight to behold, if I do say so myself.
As I am woefully unequipped to give these two the justice they deserve, I now hand them to you. I trust you will know what to do with them.
I am looking forward to a long and fruitful collaboration!
