Name: Kayri Merr, "Gadget" (professional alias), "Spanner" (local nickname)
Age: 27
Species: Marowak
Position in the Crew: Engineer
Appearance:
Unlike most Marowak, Kayri wields not a bone but a spanner in her hand. Offensively, she uses it much the same way that normal Marowak would use a bone, but since it's made from steel, it packs quite a bit more punch. She always has a pair of goggles on, usually resting on the top of her head. Her boots are solid-looking and dark brown with burnished bronze detailing, matching the thick, sturdy gloves that she wears. A bag with many pockets and slots can usually be found slung over one of her shoulders and resting on the opposite hip. Inside this bag are a lot of tools such as differently sized screwdrivers, pliers, blowtorches and other things that she might find useful. If she's doing anything potentially dangerous or messy, like welding, she will put on a thick, fire-proof apron of hers. The apron also has pockets for many of her tools.
If she's staying anywhere for any length of time, she will take a chest with her. While it also has tools in its various compartments, its main compartment has its own lock that she almost never opens.
History:
Kayri was born in Tyrantria, Antara to a couple who were barely scraping by. A famine swept the city when she was young, taking her mother's life with it. As was tradition, since Cubones wear the bones of their closest deceased ancestor so that they may be granted strength and protection, Kayri was given her mother's bones. Her father, an incredibly pious man who wholeheartedly believed that the recent disasters were a result of Arceus' wrath, made sure to impress upon her that though sinning brought disaster to all, the souls of the pure and faithful would reunite and rest with Arceus for eternity.
With her mother gone, her father now had to both work for food and shelter and somehow take care of her at the same time. He was almost at his wit's end when he found a Donphan who was willing to take her on as a young apprentice, as long as he was given a stipend of money to cover her living costs. The Donphan, known only as Gizmo, agreed to take her in at first, both because he found that there were certain things that his snout had difficulty working with, and because he was beginning to feel his age and wanted to pass on some of his skills and knowledge. Gizmo's work could be described as tinkering more than anything else. He would fix whatever was given to him and would sometimes craft zany gadgets that were amazing to behold—if not very useful or practical.
She spent most of her life working under Gizmo and they formed a deep bond that was almost parental in nature. A few years after her apprenticeship, Gizmo stopped taking money from her father, stating that she more than earned her keep. Her father couldn't visit her very often, but would always tell her that they were connected under the eyes of Arceus. Eventually, in her mid teens, she was brought news of her father's death. He had apparently been quite gravely ill for some time and had hidden it from her.
It wasn't too long afterwards that somebody working for the world renowned Artificial Xyloid Intelligence Systems group, better known as AXIS, discovered one of the silly gadgets that Gizmo made. Upon realising that it was quite expertly crafted, they tracked him down and began pressuring him to help them make machines of war under the guise of bettering their city. He resisted the offers for quite a while, but they began using underhanded means, affecting his business to such an extent that they were no longer attracting any customers. Gizmo was forced to leave, or starve. With no other family left, Kayri went with him, despite his protests. She was offered a scholarship education since Gizmo had learned his trade through less conventional means, which she took somewhat reluctantly.
Kayri spent a few years learning everything about some of the best technology in the world, and the next half decade crafting airship engines and clockwork cannons for AXIS. While she was glad to be reunited with her mentor, Kayri had finally learned to pay notice to the world around her, and her suspicions that something was purposefully being kept from her deepened by the day. She saw the city deteriorate little by little, plagued ever more strongly by plagues and famine, as their weapons grew bigger and better. She watched as Gizmo was worked to the bone, his eyes tired and his movements getting ever slower. And she heard the terrible things for which her own precious creations were being put to use. All the while, she scrimped and saved and discreetly, in her spare time, built and tinkered with and built a little one-person airship. She knew that she could not stay there forever and pretend ignorance. Something was broken in the world, though she knew not what it might be, and something had to be done.
Gizmo drew his last breath, and Kayri mourned. Soon after his death, she was approached by AXIS about the last project that Gizmo had been put in charge of. He had been building a special compass that would lead them to a little-known entity called the World Gear. Upon hearing that the World Gear was theorised to be a vital component of the world's ecosystem, all the pieces fell into place for Kayri. She wanted to find the World Gear as much as AXIS did, although she wasn't sure they shared the same motives for doing so. AXIS gave her their implicit blessing to use any means that she could to try and finish the project, including the possible need to venture into the black market to obtain things that were not legally available. However, AXIS made it known that they would not offer any extra support. She was expected to go it alone, which was more than fine by her.
With all of Gizmo's unfinished blueprints in hand and all her worldly possessions--her airship, her parents' bones in a chest, and a modest amount of money that she'd managed to save--Kayri set off to find the different technologies and parts to complete Gizmo's work.
However, skilled as she was, Kayri was no navigator. When the Skyway that she was surfing dissipated into nothing, she ended up hitting a Far Across Zone, with predictable results. It was pure luck that the ship made it to Modistra at all… though Kayri had been trying to get to Nautactus. But she made it there alive, her precious chest was intact, and while her ship was beyond repair, certain parts could still be salvaged. It could have gone a lot worse.
Unfortunately this did leave her stranded with a limited amount of money. With few options available to her, she started a little tinker business out of an inn, bringing her story almost full circle.
Personality:
Methodical and meticulous, Kayri likes to break things down and see what makes them tick—then build them back up again, preferably better. She tends to reduce complex ideas into smaller and simpler parts. This has made her appear simplistic or immovable and thick-headed to some people, not helped by the fact that she simply lacks the ability to eloquently express her viewpoints to others.
Kayri believes that all of life is like an engine. A fault in any individual part, without timely intervention, could eventually cause the greater whole to break down. To keep things working smoothly, whether it be your health, your friendships, or upholding your morals, requires constant work and maintenance. Kayri readily admits, of course, that she has little knowledge of the cogs that the universe runs on outside of mechanical creations.
People tend to be surprised when they find out that she is quite deeply religious. She acknowledges Arceus as the creator of the universe and follows the One Faith, and her particular faith accepts most of the associated creation myths as being true and following the will of Arceus. To Kayri, ordinary Pokemon were created to maintain the world that Arceus left for them. Any disharmony or discord was a direct result of their own failures to do so. She feels in her bones that something has broken in the engine of the world and wishes to find out what it might be and what might be done about it. Perhaps it is the mythical World Gear that she had recently learned of, or perhaps the source of the corruption is even the Thousand Arms themselves, who she thinks may have strayed from the path of unity that Arceus intended. Whatever it might be, it is something that she is willing to devote the rest of her life to uncovering.
Kayri is most definitely more comfortable fiddling with machines than with the intricacies of communicating with other living Pokemon. She can be blunt and thoughtless with her words and can only clumsily try to patch things up if she accidentally sets things awry. Despite not being hugely socially savvy, she does enjoy the company of others. She is, at her heart, empathetic and tolerant, even if it may sometimes take spelling out your actions or beliefs for her to understand them.
Others find Kayri to be grounded and steadfast. There is a no-nonsense air to her and she will not rise to the bait or act out rashly based on her emotions. In fact, while she is fairly open about herself and her views, she can be difficult for many people to read as she keeps her personal feelings quite guarded. It is almost impossible for her to be anything but straightforward, though she has an unrivalled poker-face if the need for her to lie or deflect arises. (It probably helps that her face is literally a mask made of bones.) While she is nowhere near naive, Kayri tends to want to believe the best of people and will help someone in trouble even if she suspects that they might be using her or setting a trap.
Ability: Lightningrod
Type Mastery or Artifact: None
Moveset: Focus Energy, Bonemerang, Headbutt, Fling, Iron Head, Flamethrower (TM)
What is the Fifth Tenet of the Golden Code of Conduct?: Be Alert
RP Sample: https://www.pokecommunity.com/showpost.php?p=7632582&postcount=96
