PHOENIX

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Phoenix serves as a sort of "rival" character. More like a friend, being honest. They end up where the protagonist is quite often- partly from coincidence, and partly from following them around.

Appearance

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Phoenix has dark skin, black hair with red highlights, and red eyes. Their hair is past shoulder length and they dye the red parts themself. They wear two necklaces, one choker and one a fossilized tooth from a Pokemon. They wear a red shirt with an emblem resembling Entei's face and a black jacket with light fur. They wear brown capris with red sneakers.

Personality

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Phoenix is very laid back- they prefer to take things at their own pace. They can be outgoing, almost to a fault, they often come on too strong and weird the other party out. They struggle to hold conversations that aren't about their interests- often resulting in them feeling lonely and isolated from a lack of deep friendships.

Role in the Story

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Phoenix meets the protagonist and Gladion at a library in Ecruteak City. As Gladion offhandedly mentions Celebi, Phoenix practically springs out of their seat and starts talking about Johto's Mythology. Gladion, though put off by this, is interested in learning more about Celebi, so he listens to their ramblings anyway. Phoenix takes this as a sign that he's interested in them as a person, which is... unfortunately not true.

After some "bonding time" (being forced to be around them) with Gladion, they offer to help him find Celebi. Gladion isn't about to turn away that golden opportunity, even if he finds Phoenix too loud and passionate for comfort. The two end up journeying around Johto, conquering Gyms and looking for any sign of the Mythical Pokemon.

Gladion warms up to Phoenix after a while, despite finding them annoying at first. Their passion is infectious, it seems.

(I'd say more about their role in the story and relationship with Gladion, but that's getting into spoilers. Oof.)

Relationships

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Gladion

Gladion is Phoenix's first real friend since their early childhood- though Gladion won't be caught dead calling Phoenix his friend, the two are actually pretty close. They butt heads often, but the two of them find it more fun to bicker than annoying.

Morty

Having grown up in Ecruteak, Phoenix spent a lot of time around Morty. He's sort of a parental figure to them. He's always happy to discuss Johto's Mythology with them, especially Ho-Oh. This has come with the side effect of Phoenix being absolutely chill with Ghost Pokemon, to the point that other people are freaked out by their nonchalance.

Eusine

Eusine plays a similar role in Phoenix's life to Morty, though as Eusine began to travel the world more, Phoenix obviously can't spend as much time with him as they'd like to. However, when Eusine is back in Johto, he's always happy to discuss Entei with them.

made by a human with blood, sweat and tears. lots of tears.