Kotarou Minobe

The Tokoyami (常闇) clan was one of the many ninja clans who called Noir Vale their home. Residing deep in the caverns, barely a stranger could find them… until one day. One day, they had found a man upon their doorstep, clothing burnt, barely alive. The elders silenced the many protests from the majority clan-members and took him in.

Kotarou was young, merely five years of age, a Shinx. However, unlike other curious children, he paid little attention to this mysterious stranger amongst their midst. Whilst other children would sneak out between training sessions to learn more about the mysterious stranger, Kotarou would remain behind and focus on his studies. He was dedicated to follow in the footsteps of his parents, one of the skilled elites in the clan.

Half a year passed, the stranger had recovered enough to be seen walking amongst the village, accompanied by an elder. Often, Kotarou could see heated debate between the adults… but like always, he paid it no heed.

One day, he woke up to the taste of acrid smoke in his mouth.

Fire. Screams.

The village was in chaos. Searching the house for his family, he could not find them. Even his older siblings were not there. He opened the gate of their compound, for it to catch on something… someone. His older sister… Akane. He looked upon her fallen body with horror. She had clearly remained behind to protect him, a number of corpses donning armour strewn around her. They all bore a chrysanthemum insignia on their chests. Hastily, Kotarou mumbled a prayer for her spirit, before going out in search for his other siblings and his parents.

He finally found his father, surrounded by soldiers. Without hesitation, Kotarou lunged. However, the young boy was batted aside without much thought.

Hitting his head against a wall, his last sight before the concussion took him over was of his father being skewered. He faded to unconsciousness.

Kotarou woke up, the harsh smell of smoke, replaced by simmering ash.

He was not alone.

Before him stood a person, their countenance painful to gaze upon. An ethereal spirit… Kotarou had carelessly thought in his groggy state. However, once his eyes came into focus, he saw the spirit was just a mere man.

(bullet points to be expanded later)

• The man is the feudal lord of the Waitsuki Clan (歪月藩) who ends up taking in Kotarou (to which Kotarou finds out later because he reminds him of a son he lost long ago). The man is a ninetales and goes by the name of Kuyou (九葉) and tells the young Kotarou he had been hunting a man, the mysterious stranger, who had ended up taking refuge in Kotarou’s village. He said the man was the son of another feudal lord and had chosen to betray the Tokoyami ninja when they had refused to help him in succession of his clan (The Tokoyami clan had worked for that man’s family).
• Kotarou is brought into Kuyou’s household, continuing his training as a ninja under another ninja under Kuyou’s employ. He is also brought up alongside Kuyou’s niece, Hiruna (a wurmple, who eventually evolved to a dustox during her coming-of-age-ceremony), the daughter of Kuyou’s younger sister.
  -Once of age, Kotarou has become a skilled ninja, reaching his 20th year, he evolved into a Luxray (Luxio was in his teens). From then, he started taking upon more ruthless assignments, assassinations. Each was rewarded generously by Kuyou, of whom he started to see as a father figure.
• Kotarou became engaged to Hiruna, a ‘reward’ to officially bring him into the Waitsuki household. By his mid twenties, they were married.
• He continued to serve Lord Kuyou until one day where he found out a secret on one of his assignments: Kuyou was the one who destroyed his village in order to capture his enemy. Upon finding out, Kotarou confronts Kuyou, to which Kuyou shows little emotion and no regret in his actions. Kotarou tells him he retires from his service and leaves, taking Hiruna with him, and renounces the surname Waitsuki.
• The couple lived in poverty, especially when Kotarou had no other skills to offer except from those he employed as a ninja. However, eventually he gets hired to work on a farm as a farmhand due to being able to do physical work.
• A decade passes, eventually Kotarou inherits the farm due to the previous owner passing away (as the previous owner did not have any descendants). Kotarou and Hiruna continue to live together, but their relationship continues to be estranged ever since he had left Kuyou’s house. Kotarou could only see Hiruna’s uncle every time he saw her and be reminded of how much he lost and Hiruna was bitter towards Kotarou for leaving the life of comfortable luxury and saw that he betrayed his newfound family (even if it was started from deceptive means).
• One night, the both are drunk and they end up having sex resulting in Hiruna getting pregnant. At first both were appalled and regretted it. However, as time passed, they saw the baby as a new start to their life and relationship… as something to focus towards. Eventually love rekindled between the two. When the baby was born, she took after her mother. She was loved by both her parents and was a fast learner.
• Two years later (4 years before the present day) , there was a fire during an attempted assasination of Kotarou… a vendetta from his previous life. Despite trying to protect his family, he lost them in a fire started by the assassins.
• He found himself alone thereafter.

Hobbies: Physical training (he does this in an outside secret location on his property), shogi, leisurely strolls with Ban.

Likes:

• Foraging (mushrooms, berries etc)
• Fishing
• Physical effort (e.g training, taming the horses etc)
• Simple food
• Salt-grilled Zebstrika
• Shogi
• Equine Pokemon.

Dislikes:

• Alcohol - He detests the loss of control.
• Rich foods
• Strong smells
• Being woken up from his deep sleep (85% he will try to kill you by reflex).

Other:

• He has a mixture of light sleeping moments (due to his former training) and moments when he sleeps so deeply that nothing can wake him up (often once per month).
• He has a resistance to ingested poisons to a certain extent due to training for poison resistance since young (can be adjusted for roleplays if desired by the other mun)
• Kotarou has a massive appetite, especially after his monthly deep sleep periods.
• The food he cooks is cooked perfectly but severely under-seasoned and bland.
• As a luxray, he has the ability to see through walls. Upon activation, the sclera of his eyes will turn red.
• As much as he detests being touched, he likes being scratched behind his ears which can lead to purring.
• In moments of emotional disarray, his fur can glow.
• His riding outfit for the fire equine Pokemon (e.g Rapidash, Ponyta etc) is made from Hisui Arcanine fur.
  -He has a lot of enemies from his past occupation.

Voice Claim: Kenjiro Tsuda (specifically his role in Idolish7 as Kujo Takamasa)

Current farm Pokemon:

• Equine Pokemon (for breeding) - Zebstrika, Ponyta, Rapidash
• Equine Pokemon (for transport around the farm / transporting goods to and from town) - Mudbray x 1, Mudsdale x 1
• Produce Pokemon - Miltank x1, Taurus, Lechonks, Torchic, Smoliv (in an olive orchard on his property).
• Fletchinder (to deliver messages)
• Greavard (pet Pokemon) - Ban who often buries itself in the yard and acts as a watchdog. Super loveable but overly friendly with its affections.