Note: This character serves as an interim I intend to explore while Smasher is gone. Thus, his WG is temporarily retired while Mason takes his place. Author: Chet Weaver Contact: E-mail: Black_hole@wrestlezone.com AIM: PanGatomon, NemesisWolfHelm, Rorschach Mask Character's Name: Mason "Mace" Adams Appearance: Mason Adams is a young man with short, spiky, brown hair. He wears the standard Team Magma uniform of black pants, shirt, and a red, hooded sweatshirt with the Team Magma logo on the front. Personality: Mace isn't easily startled and almost seems to have a sixth sense. He has surprisingly strong command over his Pokémon, even ones that don't like him. Although he isn't sadistic, he can be quite brutal in his matches. As long as the opponent is able to battle, he will give them no mercy and he may even explain the faults in his opponent's tactics. He will take every edge possible, but he will never intentionally harm an opposing trainer and will prevent others from doing so on his behalf if he can help it. Through all of this, Mace almost never takes the easy way out, preferring instead the path most likely to get him killed. Mason has what he considers an odd philosophy regarding emotions, especially fear and anger. While there are those who seek to control their emotions, Mason attempts to use his emotions to his advantage. He likens them to currents of water and air, where strong emotions are like rip tides. If you allow the tide to gain control, you get swept out to sea. If you swim against the tide, you wear yourself out and drown anyway. But if you try to swim out, you'll find yourself in safer waters. Also, those who are prepared to work with the currents and tides can use them to propel themselves onward. Take, for example, traders in the age of sail. Their ships moved quickly in the direction the winds blew, but to move in another direction one only needed to adjust the sails so the wind hits it differently. Similarly, one can adjust their focus so an emotion works for them. When applied to Pokemon battles, the Pokemon may react empathically to its trainer's emotional states, thus evoking emotion in the Pokemon itself. Harnessed effectively, this can create a synergy between trainer and Pokemon that empowers both to become a force to be reckoned with. Few realise this power, and some even take it for granted. Mason has gained an awareness of this almost to the point of using it as a tool. However, this tool is still similar to a sail in that its effectiveness is reliant on outside forces as much as it is on the user's skill. Much like the wind, one cannot merely summon strong emotions, and the intensity of one's emotion depends on the intensity of a situation. Hence, Mason is more susceptible to being worn out over a lengthy series of easy, pointless battles than he is to being overpowered by a single "undefeatable" enemy in a life-and-death situation. While he doesn't approve of Team Magma's mission to increase the world's landmass, he remains loyal since he doesn't know where else to go. So far, he's seen no reason to question his orders or his teammate's tactics, but he remains skeptical of the whole thing. Mace sees the rest of Team Magma as fanatical extremists and only pays lip service to their vision. Pokémon: Poochyena - "Mickey" Mace doesn't like the Poochyena breed too much. He feels that it doesn't "excite" him. Mickey, however, is extremely fond of Mace and will come out of his PokéBall just to excitedly hop around and yip at him. Moves: Return, Toxic, Double Team, Crunch Ability: Run Away (can always flee from wild Pokemon) Zubat There's not much to say about Zubat. She's just your average trained Pokémon, willing to cater to the whims of her master. Oh, and she's bisexual, but that's almost never relevant to anything. Moves: Poison Fang, Bite, Confuse Ray, Air Cutter Ability: Inner Focus (does not flinch) Numel Mace thinks Numel is the dumbest-looking Pokémon he's ever seen, and Numel doesn't think too kindly of Mace either. Numel would like nothing better than to see Mace take a long walk off a short pier, but there's nothing he can do about it while under the employ of Team Magma. Moves: Flamethrower, Magnitude, Protect, Secret Power Ability: Oblivious (does not become infatuated) Ralts - "Artemis" Artemis hates Mace for keeping her as a "slave." She had become psychically aware of the world around her while she was still an egg and she decided once she hatched she would escape Team Magma's breeding lab and have no part of their experiments or goals. Unfortunately, Artemis is the only Pokémon Mace actually liked among those around the Magma Base, so he kept her as part of his team. Artemis takes every opportunity to rebel or project vulgar imagery into Mace's mind, but his commanding presence prevents her from flat-out escaping. Moves: Teleport, Psychic, Calm Mind, Will-O-Whisp Ability: Trace (copies opponent's ability) Objectives: To locate the remaining pieces of the Legend Siren. Once the Siren is assembled, it can summon and control a godlike Pokémon with command over the forces of nature. Allies: Team Magma Enemies: Team Aqua Background: Hailing from the region of Orre, Mason Adams is, or at least was, one of Team Magma's best foreign operatives. He possessed a great amount of skill in handling Pokémon and had a sort of sixth sense. When his team discovered the legendary Crystal Call, his superiors transferred him to the Hoenn region to locate and assemble the remaining pieces of the Legend Siren. Unfortunately, an assault from Team Aqua caused a blow to the head the resulted in total memory loss. Mace's only link to his former identity is Team Magma, but he feels as if he cannot trust them. Regardless, with nowhere else to turn he remained loyal to the team. Mysteriously, Mace's Pokémon came down with an unidentifiable illness and had to be quarantined until a cure could be found. In the interim, he was given three Pokémon (Poochyena, Zubat, and Numel) to use until something could be done. While exploring the base, Mace came upon a group of Team Magma grunts and an Admin chasing down an escaping Ralts. The Ralts didn't have enough skill to Teleport out of the base, but she was proving to be frustrating prey. Mace's sixth sense allowed him to predict where the Ralts would Teleport to and he caught her in a PokéBall. He wanted to keep the Ralts, but the Admin needed her for a top-secret breeding project. In the ensuing match to decide who would keep her, the Ralts hit Mace directly and purposefully with a Confusion attack. He won the match regardless, but the psychic attack temporarily jarred loose a memory that made him doubt his history with Team Magma. -- Chet "Tech" Weaver AIM: PanGatomon MSN: Nichirasu@hotmail.com eMail: zeroohki at netscape dot net Yahoo! Messenger: tech_weaver ICQ: 122744531 Webcomic: http://desperadocoyote.keenspace.com