Leander von Linnden the Seedot

» Name: Leander von Linnden
» Sex: Male
» Gender: Male
» Species: #273 Seedot, the Acorn Pokémon
» Affiliation: Rainfront Citizen

» Level: 5
» Energy: 16
» Ability: Pickpocket
» Moves:
- Bide (lvl. 1)
- Harden (lvl. 3)
- Grassy Terrain (egg move)
-

» Natural Feats:
- Moisture draining: By attaching their “stem” to a tree, seedot can leech off moisture from it. The more they drink, the glossier their bodies become. If they drink too much, they may become too heavy and fall down. Strong winds can also loosen their grip
- Acorn mimicry: When hanging still from trees, seedot look just like real acorns. They enjoy scaring unsuspecting pokémon by suddenly moving
- Leaf polishing: Seedot can polish their bodies using leaves
- Pickpocket: Leander will steal held items from foes when making physical contact

» Relatives:
- Biological mother: Audrey Trawden the Nuzleaf (NPC)
- Biological father: Kian Ryph the Mawile (NPC)
- Adoptive mother: Eleanore von Linnden the Simisear (NPC)

» Personality:

Leander is generally warm and caring, striving to be a better person than he was when he was younger. To achieve this, he has made it a goal for himself to treat new people well until they prove that it is undeserved. Though he does not think that he is good at anything that is particularly helpful to others, he will gladly help those in need, should he be able to. He has also grown more extroverted with age, and will get lonely and sombre if he is without company for too long. With company, he’s jolly and somewhat playful.

After going through a childhood with few friendships, Leander has come to highly treasure his friends. Once someone gets close to him, he will get protective and extra caring towards them, bordering on fussing. Expect questions about your health. And your feelings. And your worries. A little bit of everything, really. He does not want to take any risks on them hiding problems he can help them with. He also becomes very loyal. No secrets shared with him are going anywhere, and promises are kept to the best of his ability.

Should someone prove themselves unworthy of the kindness he offers or hurt his dear friends, however, his demeanour will quickly change.

One of his old traits he struggles to change is his vindictiveness. Should Leander feel wronged, his mind will quickly plunge into a petty, plotting state. For all misdeeds committed against him, he feels a need to get revenge, and he will go to great lengths to make sure said revenge is carried out in a way that satisfies him. When getting revenge, Leander is much more reckless and childish than he usually is, taking big and dumb risks with little consideration of the potential danger of doing so. While ever so present even when he is not feeling vindictive, his mischievousness is also amped up to eleven when it's time for vengeance. Then, it borders on sadism. The more hilarious and humiliating he can make the revenge for the victim, the better to him.

The reckless part this issue stems from his impulsiveness. This trait, just like his vindictiveness, has also been around for as long as he can remember. He wants to be calm and collected in heated situations such as battles, but is only efficient in planning things beforehand. When in the moment, he acts and reacts quickly, but holds only short-term plans unless a long-term one was created in advance.

In addition to having poor impulse control, he also has mild kleptomania, which sometimes makes him get the urge to steal things. The urge does not appear often, but when it does, it's hard for him not to take whatever it is he has his mind set on. It’s the addictive rush he that feels when stealing, rather than his need for an item or its value, that causes him to do this. In fact, he will sometimes steal things just to place them back later or throw them away. Aside from being a kleptomaniac, he also loves to both steal and lie because they are among the few things he feels that he is any good at, but becoming a better person is prioritized if he can help it.

The kleptomania does cause some issues with keeping friends, though, as he occasionally ends up stealing from them. He personally hates when this happens and gets very guilty, and will likely return the item very soon, along with many apologies. Because friends are very important to him, he is capable of more restraint than usual when it comes to their belongings, but it still does happen sometimes.

Leander himself does not see it, but he is good at understanding and talking about feelings. Other than obviously having to cover up his impulse to steal, he does not hide his feelings a whole a lot. They are free to be seen for most pokémon, and he rarely gets embarrassed over having them. In fact, he is okay with them to a comical degree sometimes and is prone to being moved and acting sappy. It's not rare to see him cry.


» Likes:

Cooking – After starting to trust Eleanore, he would often watch her make pastry and sweets, and picked up some knowledge on how to do it, as well as the desire to do it himself once he evolves and is physically able to. It seems relaxing and interesting to him, and could be a way for him to be useful to others in the future. Since Eleanore only made sweets and desserts, he is not very knowledgeable about making other types of food, though.

Reading – Kicking back and just reading has always been relaxing to Leander, and has taught him many things. He struggles to understand how someone could find absolutely all books boring, especially when there are so many kinds on so many topics out there.

Cute things – “But doesn’t everyone appreciate cuteness?” you may be asking. Maybe, but probably not as much as Leander. He's head over heels for the stuff, be it cute accessories, songs or even other pokémon (such as Pichu and Clefairy). It has purity, something he wishes he had more of himself. Because he adores them so much, he easily becomes protective of cute pokémon.

Stealing and lying – While him being a kleptomaniac sometimes is hindering his success in abiding the law and keeping friends, he can’t say that he does not like stealing. He feels so skilled doing it, and the excitement and gratification he feels leaves him wanting more. While the lying is usually just done to cover up for the thefts, he also feels accomplished when successfully lying.

Acting – Since he would often be a decoy in his parents’ plans as a child, he quickly learned how to act. While the thought of his parents leaves a bitter taste in his mouth, they did leave behind some useful skills, especially for someone who often has to pretend he has done nothing wrong. It's fun, too.

The police – Perhaps a little ironic, considering that he’s always on the edge of the law. The police did save him from a life of crime and poverty, though, as they arrested his criminal parents and let one of their own adopt him when he had nowhere else to go. Because of them, he got a second chance and a new understanding of the world, and for that he is eternally grateful.


» Dislikes:

Cold – He has the worst bad-luck streak with going out during cold weather and instantly getting sick afterwards. Seriously, he is almost guaranteed to catch something if he stays out in the cold for just a little too long. Winters suck for him, and there’s a reason he moved to Rainfront. Cold moves, like ice-type moves or water-type ones in the wrong kind of environment also has him worried for his health the next day.

Being tricked – Leander feels like he is supposed to be good at avoiding this, seeing as he is sort of good at tricking others. When he is wrong about that, however, he gets embarrassed and goes straight to Vengeanceville.

Emotional abuse and neglect - Due to his biological parents being neglectful to him, Leander despises this sort of behaviour, and will always step in and try to help victims of it. Family-related incidents affect him particularly much.

Blood – Sticky, goopy goo that only gets goopier if you don’t remove it, and even leaves disgusting stains on accessories if you don't remove it in time? No thanks.
Excessive amounts or gory scenes makes him feel sick or dizzy, as well.

His lack of arms – It’s just so impractical! Everything would have been easier, had he only had some.

Pachirisu – An… unfortunate misunderstanding in his childhood has made him wary of these pokémon.


» History:

Leander hatched to a young and inexperienced criminal couple operating in Fallen Leaf Copse. His mother was Audrey, a Nuzleaf, and his father a Mawile named Kian. Since they were not planning to have a child, Audrey getting an egg was a big problem for them at first. They were already very busy with stealing to stay alive, and did not have the extra time nor energy to care for some kid. Neither of them were particularly thrilled, but couldn't make themselves abandon the egg, either.

Eventually, they did come to terms with the fact that they would be parents, if only barely. Reforming their schedule, they made room for caring for Leander, checking in on him and sometimes taking turns staying with him in the tree hollow in which they resided, while the other one went out. It was treated more like a chore than an actual upbringing, though, and left Leander feeling unwanted. Their life had become worse since they had to devote more time to someone they did not really have the capacity to devote time to, so it was not like they were going to do this happily. This chore continued, until his parents got an idea: why not just use this cute little kid to make their endeavour easier instead? With his ability and and innocent appearance, it could just work...

Leander was promptly taught how to lie and cheat. Audrey also taught him how to steal without arms, by sharing a Pickpocket technique involving jumping up and kicking an item out of a victim’s hands, then fastening one’s stem to the item and pulling it along as one runs away. To stealthily steal, one could just fasten the stem to an item right away and try to lodge it out of a pocket carefully. Everything his parents thought they could need, they would at the very least mention to him.

He would usually take on decoy roles in their schemes, tricking pokémon traversing Fallen Leaf Copse to follow him into his parents’ ambush and mugging. His tasks also included stealing poorly guarded items on his own and making gullible wanderers give him poké and food. Though he was only a tool to his parents, performing these tasks made him feel better. Lying through his teeth and taking what was not his gave him a rush, and certainly satisfied his kleptomania, which was starting to make its appearance. He felt skilled and clever, too. And maybe him being useful could make his parents like him!

His usefulness helped a little. They were happy that he was successful and had helped them, but little else made them show affection. Their relationship remained business-like and cold. Leander grew to both love and resent them, unsure what to feel. Wasn’t he supposed to love his parents? But, then again, weren’t they supposed to love him too? He contemplated running away on his own several times to escape the fight for approval that his life had become, but never went through with it. Running away did not guarantee finding someone who would love him, and he thought that he sort of wanted to stay and make them accept him, too, as little sense as it made to him. Running away would be like admitting that he could never make them love him, right? His stressed, young mind thought so, at least. Besides, he could not take care of himself alone, and risked all sorts of trouble if he ran away.

His situation stayed unchanging for a while, until his parents’ increasingly violent offenses finally warranted them attention from the police. Audrey and Kian were used to avoiding the occasional low-rank explorer, but the police was bit much for them. It did not take long before the family was caught, and his parents put in jail for their repeated offenses. Leander, however, was still just a child, and could not be hauled off with them. Instead, a policewoman decided that she would try and turn the criminal child kind again, and raise him as her own.

She was a simisear named Eleanore, who lived in Grassveil Town. Believing that one’s childhood greatly affects one’s risk to become a criminal, she was more than willing to help stomp out the very seeds of crime before they sprouted. In this case, however, it was more like taking the sprout and stuffing it back into the seed. Her new son was already damaged by his early upbringing, and it showed. He acted horrible, backtalking and lying to adults and stealing from his fellow children, mostly just in spite. Eleanore would try and keep the angry citizens at bay by explaining the situation and returning stolen items, but their little family ended up being fairly disliked anyways.

Leander himself felt alienated and lonely. His life had suddenly fallen out of his control, and pokémon he did not know were deciding what should happen to him and what he should do. Nothing was familiar, and the only pokémon he had been close to were gone. Granted, he was not even sure that he really loved them, but now he had no one at all.

Catching on to this after studying how he behaved, Eleanore tried to talk to the boy and show him affection and understanding. She told him she believed in him, as she could tell few others seemed to. When the complaints about him grew heated or unreasonable, she would also defend him fiercely, while also making sure to scold him for his own unreasonable misbehaviour. Though it took time, this caring behaviour influenced Leander, who began listening to his new mother. He was finally taught morals and rules, and why and how his actions hurt people. And with Eleanore placing her faith in him, he also began viewing his actions differently.

If he acted good, someone would finally be proud and care that he did. Likewise, if he hurt someone, he would disappoint the one who believed in him. Now his actions weren’t just blind lashings at a big world he perceived to be against him. They affected what Eleanore felt. And she would stand between him and the world, protecting and caring for him as he got the time and opportunity to improve. And better still, she treated him like a proper son. Though he was yet again proving himself to a guardian, this did not feel the same way proving himself to his parents did. Eleanore expressed love for him regardless of his success in behaving. It was more about impressing her and making her happy rather than making her want him as her son.

Then, eventually, he did improve. It was time-consuming and full of trial and error, but he began to get an understanding of how to treat others and how to behave. Being shown compassion made him kinder and more caring, as well. And after learning more about rules and laws, he started trying to respect them more too. But even though he improved, his first impression persisted somewhat for a while, making it hard for him to fit in. Hell, he still had some issues with his behaviour, most notably the kleptomania, even if he was now trying to be good. There was no way he could just become perfect at it straight away after originally being raised a criminal, of course!

Later, he would get some fleeting friendships, but he still often stayed at home partaking in reading or similar indoor activities when he was not at school. He particularly loved watching Eleanore make the prized cakes and sweets she produced as a hobbyist baker and confectioner, while having discussions with her about all kinds of things. Talking to her made him more used to being with others, until he started spending more and more time outside, leaving him with a mostly healthy social life at the end of his time living in Grassveil Town.

As he became old enough to care for himself and had saved up enough money, Leander moved away from Eleanore, and went to live in Rainfront Town in a small house of his own. She was proud to see him finally stand on his own feet, but told him to make sure he behaved, and that the police would not make exceptions for him for being her son. All out of love, of course. She did not want him to return to the harmful path he had once walked.

Moving out, Leander decided that things would be different this time around. He would be good from the get-go to honour the efforts of the police and his adoptive mother, as well as make use of his second chance.

But how, exactly? He was a little seedot, too weak to fight for the sake of others, with skills in only deception and theft and their cousins. To make matters worse, he was still not exactly skilled at staying out of trouble, either. If he just went on without making an effort to do good things, his little mishaps would eventually outweigh what good he actually did.

He also decided not to go looking for his biological parents. That chapter of his life was over, and he had grown to realize he was not obliged to love them nor return to them. His current life was enough, and Eleanore was more than enough for a parent. And if they didn't want him around back then, he sure as hell didn't want them around now.

With this freedom from his past, along with a new impasse to solve, Leander began his independent life.


» Other: He wears a small, grey backpack fastened around his "waist". A simple, green ribbon is pinned to the backpack's waistband. He always carries a little blanket matching the ribbon's colour in the backpack, in case he should feel cold. Eleanore gave him these items.

When feeling strong emotions, Leander starts to shiver, regardless of which emotion he feels. He also has a peculiar way of laughing, sounding like "Ka ka ka", sometimes replacing some of the "ka"s with regular "ha"s. Forcing it to sound normal is possible for him, though. The aforementioned shivering also happens when he's laughing.

His house lies in the outskirts of Rainfront, close to Pricklemist Hill. It is small and round in shape, and is built of solid, white rock. A short and wide plant with big leaves spreading out to the sides grows from the flowerbed on the roof, and helps partially shield the glass-free windows from the rain.

Went ahead and rewrote like 98% of this. It's finally ready to be reviewed again.