#divina neuter | headcannons

[eranthiss]

The first Plasma Crisis changed Iris, sure, but nothing hit her on such a level as the second Plasma Crisis. She went from a scared fourteen year old gym leader way out of her depth, just discovering how truly awful people can be-

Cut for; tangents, mentions of death, mentions of murder.

To Unova's youngest Acting Champion at fifteen, way out of her depth in the middle of a nationwide emergency, and left near totally alone in her work. Then the Opelucid Freeze happened. She counted two hundred and thirty nine humans, one hundred and two Pokémon lost to a group only interested in their own gain, and it broke her.

She became far, far angrier then she had been before- and most concerningly, hell bent on vengeance, no matter the cost. She grew around that, and became a worse person for it.

She is most likely now one of the most dangerous people in Unova, with the manpower she's got access to from her position within the Unova League, and a frightening willingness to kill. She has before, and she will again. She's learned to track someone across the region through just about any disguise, and taught herself how to play to people's weaknesses - or find ways she can use someone if needs be. She turned Ghetsis into a brick. Zinzolin she burned alive for nothing more than the hell of it. She's got plans for Colress and the rest of them.

She swears. She'll never let her people live through that terror again.

[eranthiss]

Iris prefers to communicate in Andiile over .... literally every other language she knows. Remembering how Galarian works as a language is hard and she doesn't want to be doing that all the time.

She speaks both Northern Andiile (Latin) and South Andiile (Esperanto). Northern Andiile is more formal, the sort of stuff spoken by people of a higher "social status", and is used in official documents and anything that warrants speaking formally. South Andiile is your casual day to day stuff. Iris can figure out whole new horrific insults to call people in this.

[eranthiss]

Iris is absolutely awful at mathematics. But she excels at languages. She's got - in order of fluency;

Andiile

Galarian

Italian (Shares root words with Andiile, is kinda spoken similar)

Kalosian / Kalosi

Sinnoh dialect Kantohan

Paldean

[eranthiss]

Humans seem to have evolved to be quite durable creatures. Which is very fortunate for Iris, who works with insanely dangerous Pokémon for fun- and seems to have a talent for aqquiring stupid injuries, and has been Draco Meteor'd a few too many times.

[eranthiss]

Iris specialises in dragon types specifically, but more broadly she specialises in "Inherently dangerous Pokémon that can, will, and have taken lives for getting complacent."

She's a good person to go to for information on Dragon types, reptiles, and anything likely to put someone on the back of a milk carton for looking at it wrong.

[eranthiss]

Tbh Iris desperately needs some serious time off; She's been working nonstop since age fifteen - that's six years straight, with only a gap that was a hospital stay due to a NDE, and she's been on edge that whole time, pretty much constantly in survival mode.

She's beyond exhausted, and is quite literally running on unhinged levels of caffeine and spite alone. Her undiagnosed sleep disorder isn't helping either; she's regularly getting as little as four hours of sleep, sometimes less.

It's the survivors guilt and ptsd that's stopping her from actually considering that. She will need convincing.

[eranthiss]

Iris has issues with Unova Law enforcement, and how they handled the Plasma Crisis, especially the cleanup after the second crisis and Opelucid Freeze. She's fairly certain no attempts were made to catch those responsible, and the approximately zero traces of anyone involved afterwards solidified it in her head.

That's how she ended up on the warpath. If nobody's going to help her she'll do it herself.

[eranthiss]

The Sibling Pokémon of the Ace Dynasty, in age order. All are part of the Haxorus evolutionary line.

Syrrus - Brother to former Andiiles and Sisciile... And Unova Champion Jahzara Ace. Ninety nine years old, and the largest male Haxorus on the estate, due to his seniority. About Seven foot tall. Would be about four foot taller if he were female. Bonded to Ayna, Jahzara's female Haxorus of equal age. Is the father to three dragons, each hatching decades apart from each other. Hard of hearing. Cranky old man yells at cloud.

Amatus - Sister to Jocelyn Ace, former Andiiles and Sisciile league champion, and current gym mon. In her early sixties, approximately 11'5. Absolute sweetheart who would absolutely obliterate a fly if so inclined. Syrrus's eldest daughter.

Minervra - Sister to Athena Nzinga Ace, former Andiiles and Sisciile Champion. Approximately twenty seven years old, and clocks in at about 8'10. Sassy, and quite territorial around women. Loves Iappa berries. Second daughter of Syrrus.

Apollo - Brother to Orion Ace, and Minor Unova League Gym mon. Pampered beyond belief. Probably has softer hands than some humans. Bit of a Diva. One of Ayna's sons not of Syrrus. Approximately 5'11, will snap at you if you mention how short he is. Twenty Seven.

Delia - Sister to Cain Ace, and a only Pokémon. Surprisingly gentle for a eight foot tall axe lizard. Can identify flowers. another of Ayna's other children not from Syrrus. Not used for battle. Twenty six.

Myrrha - Brother to Mwindo Ace, and another of Delia and Apollo's siblings. Absolute powerhouse baby boy. Very inquisitive, will try and take your wallet

Syllhe - Brother to Abel Ace, and another non battler. Approximately twenty two years old. Also one of Myrrha's siblings. Has a few contest ribbons to his name.

Arkē - Sister to Iris Zenobia Ace, and the final daughter of Syrrus and Ayna. Former gym mon, and current Champion's Pokémon. Probably the strongest Haxorus alive in Unova. Snarky little sweetheart who'll eat out of your hand if you pass the vibe check. Is currently seven foot tall, and like every Haxorus, still growing bigger.

[eranthiss]

Iris has had her apartment broken into... quite recently.

The intruder quite rapidly realised their mistake upon seeing the six-six Hydreigon basking in the front room, fully awake and alert.

Hydreigon will mess anything up for fun. It's enriching for her to cause terror.

[eranthiss]

Between the time Iris left the Andiiles and Sisciile at age eleven to the time she visited again was seven years. Seven whole years, and only her father and two of her brothers visited her.

Needless to say, Iris doesn't see much of her family irl. Her eldest brother moved to Unova though, and her dad still visits. Iris is in desperate need of older female companionship as she's effectively starved for platonic affection - and maternal affection.

[eranthiss]

Iris has, in proportion to the rest of her body, very small hands and feet.

Upside? Her mailbox lock has been broken for literal years and it remains un-fixed. Her method of getting her mail? Shoving her hand in the mail slot up to the elbow and just grabbing it out. She's got a easier time whenever she needs to put her hands inside one of her Pokémon's mouths for some reason.

She's very, very good at finding tiny little hand/footholds in odd places when she needs to climb something.

Downside? She pretty much only fits either children's shoes, as most women's sizes don't go low enough. Or she orders from brands in places that tend to cater for small grown women like her.

[eranthiss]

Arkē knows state secrets only kept secure by her inability to speak/be understood by humans. Iris is fairly certain Arkē has memorised every single important document in the Unova League.

That, and a lot of Iris's shopping lists. And the details off Iris's PriceCo membership card.

[eranthiss]

Iris has a very powerful gaze for someone so small and unassuming. Her eyes are a bright blood red, and she's developed the ability to harden her gaze to such a extent that it feels like she's rooting around inside your head. But that's all for show.

Her eyes hold very little sparkle to them, and at times it can look like the light in them is wholly gone. It's been like that since she helped with the recovery project in Opelucid City during the Crisis.

[I get very carried away below the cut. Warnings for very brief mention of bodies, grief, referenced murder]

She was fifteen, a matter of weeks into her term as Champion, and already left to her own devices in the role entirely, and she's having to dig out bodies from collapsed buildings-frosted over in the streets- in their houses - and she blamed herself, for a while. A year or so. The cleanup finished. She goes to therapy. It helps somewhat, she thinks she's fixed, and she stops going entirely.

She starts wearing glittery contact lenses, learns to act friendly and upbeat whenever she needs to be seen. She learns to bottle up her emotions, but it does not work. Inside she boils with rage. At what was done to Her people. The ones she swore to protect. She is seventeen and plotting vengeance against people double - triple her age. It consumes her every waking hour for about a year nonstop. She learns to slow down when she is eighteen. She starts putting her plans into action, following even the faintest paper trail across Unova. She learns to sit in her emotions as she matures, to wait, and not just jump to actions immediately.

She acts when she is twenty. She deals with what she believes to be the root of the problem first, and takes her spoils. One down. Ten to go.

[eranthiss]

Iris comes off.... Odd. On a surface level there's her "Harmless little sister type" act that she plasters on for some reason but deep down in there is a profoundly messy, entirely unsorted feelings and sensations she's quite literally never going to bother addressing.

On one hand she's traumatized - by both of the Plasma Crises - and then the Opelucid Freeze. She's seen hundreds of people and Pokémon die as a young girl and it's very naturally affected her irrevocably. You can see it in her eyes - the dull, cold focus in her eyes- the fact that she essentially never got a childhood properly, and had to become mature beyond her years from basically age thirteen onwards.

On the other hand she's a girl sent away from her home country to help fulfil societal expectations placed on her just by the family she was born into- with the words "You must always remain perfect" burned into her conscience. She's lonely. She's scared. She didn't even see most of her family for seven years straight. She barely knows her own mother nowadays.

[eranthiss]

As Iris both has and displays the gene that causes HESD any child descending directly from her has a solid 80/20 chance of being born with the disorder.

[eranthiss]

Iris has, since the age of thirteen been a professional battler. She needs the adrenaline and mental stimulation from battling, and pretty much all of her Pokémon inherently need to battle to remain healthy and sane, especially Arkē and Hydreigon.

Diantha isn't much of a battler, like most Kalosi; she's a Actor first. She's moreso someone who picked up a hobby and then got really good at it. She doesn't exactly seek out battles often.