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Richard Sayre was a bad man.

Outwardly, there was little about him to suggest such a thing. He had married (and divorced) a beautiful woman who had borne him a child, a daughter who was now entering her late teens. He was a stern but loving father, who had somehow managed to keep the situation with his wife from affecting his relationship with his daughter, Sarah. They had ended on bad terms, but he had never lost sight of what was really important in their marriage: their child.

Of course, supporting a child as a single parent is no mean feat. Fortunately, that was never an issue for the man, as his ‘night job’ paid quite well. Sayre found employment working in a shadowy organization known only as The Firm. His recruitment is a story for another day, but suffice to say that the tasks were just as unsavory as one might believe: sometimes it was simply ‘checking up’ and ‘keeping tabs’ on ‘undesirables’; sometimes the situation called for more— blackmail, extortion, and even assassination, all for the ‘greater good’. It was a crappy way to make a living, morally speaking, but Sayre kept his night job a secret from his daughter, and was somehow able to keep looking himself in the mirror in the morning. And sometimes, that’s the best you can ask for.

And then one stormy night, he was ordered to eliminate a much more different target than the norm: specifically, a deserter from The Firm. Unfortunately for the deserter, The Firm was notoriously difficult to escape, and within a few months, the company had pinned down the traitor’s relevant information and location. Sayre was sent in to clean up the mess quickly and quietly. There was supposed to be little complications.

Alas. The best laid plans of mice and men…

Sayre had infiltrated the target’s household easily enough, but upon approach to the target, his anonymity was compromised. There was another— a woman, obviously the traitor’s wife— who gave away his position with a shout. A fight broke out, and Sayre was hard pressed to hold off the assaults of both the parents, who utilized ground Pokémon in a different manner than he was accustomed to. He would’ve failed his mission and ultimately have been arrested if not for a turn of fortune— the two had a child. Drawn out by the commotion and shouting, a little boy padded into the room, and before either of the parents had time to react, Sayre’s Primeape seized the child at his command, effectively taking him hostage. The battle came to a complete stop, as neither of the two were prepared to see their child hurt. With the wail of police sirens in the air, Sayre took the opportunity to shoot the both of them dead, but left the child alone, believing his identity to be safe.

The mission had been completed, but something had changed irrevocably within him. He had lost his taste for the life he had once led without complaint. Perhaps it was seeing the scope of his work— most of his prior contract jobs had been relatively simple affairs, always done in the dark, always silent. The child had unnerved him, unhinged him in the most elemental sense. It was far too easy to supplant Sarah for the trembling, shivering boy whom he had snatched up. And by the time Sarah was beginning her college search, Sayre realized it. Soon she would be starting her own family… Just like that, he was done. He requested a six-month leave of absence for personal reasons, gave away all of his Pokémon (save for the brood of his Primeape, his favored battler) and eliminated all traces of his devious past. Time passed, and Sayre had settled into the calm with surprising ease. But, the past never rests easy. He had his desk job by night, and his mundane work as a day laborer and painter as a day.

But as his vacation neared its end, Sayre knew that he could not return to the old way of things. He also knew The Firm would not tolerate any excuse he could come up with to escape his fate. So, feeling a painful connection to the victims of his last contact job, he decided to flee the country. To Sarah, he begged off that he was on a business trip out of the country. The Firm would not touch her if they could help it— the chance to make his death look like an accident somewhere in the boonies was simply too juicy. An airtight alibi.

But it wouldn’t be until he was on the boat to Tohea that he received his greatest shock. For a ghost of his past, the offspring of his last contact job, confronted him. Pale with shock, Sayre barely comprehended his angry challenge, though the sounds of battle brought him back to earth in a hurry. As the battle progressed, he slowly came to his senses, his mind working furiously.

Faced with the embodiment of his worst mistake, the very mistake which had sent him on his current path, Sayre realized what he had been given. Redemption. He would make up for that fateful night, and all those like it in this boy. As the boy’s Pokémon fainted, and the boy himself sunk to the floor, heartbroken, Sayre spoke. His tone was cold, but his heart was filled with fear. This boy simply couldn’t refuse.

“You have ambition— the strongest quality of the youth seeking to topple the old— that’s good. You have drive, if you managed to find me, that’s better. But you must see reason. Look around you; do you see anything or anyone you recognize? You have taken your shot and missed. Your only advantage is gone, and if you wish to pursue me further, I can guarantee you a much more difficult chase than you have had so far. You will not surprise me again, even if you should find me.”

“But I offer you something that few ever receive: a second chance. I will allow you to fight me once more, and attempt to defeat me, though it be impossible. I only ask that you follow me, and pose as a companion— friend, family, what have you. There are dangerous men following me, and if they should ever catch up to me, your redemption will disappear into thin air. What do you say, lad?”

And what could he say? For better or for worse, the two were bound together— their fates tied in a manner that neither of them could fully comprehend. Only time would bring about the result of such a pairing…

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Reserved. Conservative. Thoughtful. Deliberate. Grim. And always adaptive.

Once upon a time, Sayre was a company man, a rather ruthless employee of the Firm who possessed enough grit to do what needed to be done, yet still managed to meet his daughter’s smile the next morning. Since those days something inside him has broken, snapped, bent. He has left the Firm, and likes to think that he has also closed the door on the colder side of his heart— though the reappearance of a ghost of the past in the form of Izou Onryou has complicated matters. Nonetheless, he finds himself incapable of taking even the smallest forms of life since leaving the Firm, no matter the personal risk. Even the sight of blood elicits a helpless weakening in his stomach that he would rather not experience.

‘Measure twice, cut once.’ If nothing else, this is one motto that the man lives by. His old life and his new life calls for extreme caution, and so he has tailored his life style to this characteristic. This is a man who has grown used to wearing a disguise, walking with a limp, speaking in a borrowed voice so as to avoid his pursuers. He is a learned man, not out of particular interest in the academics but due to necessity. Never one to enjoy to an unexpected surprise, Sayre is a firm advocate in expecting the unexpected.

Though his recent encounter with Onryou has put quite the screw in his plans, as well as shake him to the core, Sayre remains optimistic to some extent. He knows that there is little chance that he will be able to escape the boy for good— rather than cut him loose, it is better to keep him close for a while, and see what will develop.

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