Reginald Gaiteuil

Physicality

Klaus bears all the markings and colorations of a typical member of his species, but there is no mistaking, even at just a glance, that he is not a common blooded pokemon, even if he does not have the drastic difference of coat that makes one "shiny" or strange markings passed from an unusual parent. No, if anything, it is almost the opposite that makes it so clear, he is the embodiment of a Mienshao, the picture-perfect image of his species. A long and lean body ripples with muscle from years of training and strict eating habits, his moves purposeful and calculated, yet also poised.
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There is a grace there as well, a feline ease to Klaus' steps that both exudes a presence of his person that is hard to ignore, yet barely seems to touch the earth with each footfall. His fur is silken and creamy, with lavender markings, and his long whiskers seem almost to be dipped in an accent of orange, a contrast that makes the distinction of his piercing scarlet eyes all the more clear. It's hard to tell if he is actually slightly taller and larger than the average of his species, or if it's just Klaus' sheer force of person and the unwaveringly sharp gaze of his eyes that makes it seem so, but he is a pokemon few seem to be able to easily forget, unreadable, unreachable, all-knowing and cold.[break][break]

Mentality

As with many, there is an odd distinction between the two different sides of Klaus that most will ever see. To some there is only King Klaus Gaiteuil. He is, or at least tries to be, a just ruler, and in some ways he embodies this well. He is endlessly patient, with a keen eye and mind, and his only aim is to rule his kingdom for the betterment of his people. While not entirely spartan, he certainly seems to not spare himself many luxuries, and seems nearly always to be pre-occupied instead with either matters of state or kingdom, or with personal training or instruction, seeming to always be looking for something to busy himself with.[break][break]

One could attempt to say that this Klaus enjoys getting to know his subjects, if enjoy was not too strong a word for it. His dedication and drive to his role as well as his intellect and learning find him curious in those people underneath him, and he does try to learn his people so that he may better know what they want, but his failing is perhaps in his own lack of personability. Klaus is cold, and distant. He speaks politely enough, but in an aristocratic way that rarely bears any true feeling to it. It's hard, if not impossible, to read him, and he seems always to be direct to the point of being even harsh sometimes, his emotions locked behind and unwavering and piercing scarlet gaze that looks straight through others.[break][break]

Some know Klaus better. Some know that he's lonely at heart, and that he pushes himself because he has seen too much loss, and wishes only to try to prevent it from happening again. He aches for those who know him best, while at the same time pushing them away, and his patience and sense of duty both tend to hinder and clash with his inner sense of empathy. When he grows close to someone, he cares for them deeply, and its a bond that does not easily break for him, so the strings that have been cut in his life have left him raw and hurting, left him angry, and grieving. Above all, he fears being helpless, stuck with a lingering feeling that despite him being far more capable than he realizes, that he isn't enough. That he might never be enough.[break][break]

History

Klaus was always destined to follow in his father's footsteps. There was never any question, any doubt, any room for other wants or desires. The firstborn child, and for many years, the only child of the current ruler of Colbagne and his partner, Klaus was told his fate from the moment he hatched, mewling and weak from his egg.[break][break]

"You will be King."[break][break]

There was no choice, and no argument. As heir to the Gaiteuil family name and the throne, the weight of generations rested upon him now. And, like Jeannot II, his noble father, and his father before him, Klaus was raised with the expectation that one day, the sovereignty of their dynasty, and the fate of all the pokemon who lived within it would be a responsibility rested solely upon his shoulders. This was accepted as fact, irreversible, and undeniable, and Klaus would believe this, and dedicate himself to being ready for the day, so that when he would inevitably have to take the role of his father, he could serve at least as well as the wise and just Mienshao had. That was all he desired in life.[break][break]

Thus Klaus' childhood was only that. Training. The castle was no place for children, and no school was any place for a Crown Prince, thus Klaus would often be the only one within a decade of his age there during his youth, and it was rare he ever went beyond the gardens, only in rare excursions with his father or his mother would lead him outside the grounds of his castle and home, to where the rest of the world lived and worked. The rest of the time was spent within the castle walls, with personal tutors to teach him through every subject, from history, to fighting, to ceremony, to dance, and wandering the halls alone. [break][break]

It never occurred to Klaus to think of it as lonely, but he spent much time in the library, feeling it was his duty to read through the work of the generations of historians and pour over maps of the kingdom when he wasn't being tutored, and he was a diligent and hardworking student with each of his trainers, reserved but focused and dedicated. It was hard to tell if it was a natural talent that led him to pick up subjects quickly and efficiently or simply a single-minded determination and patience to practice and repeat a task until it was mastered, but Klaus took his duties very seriously. In some ways, perhaps overly so.[break][break]

Klaus' saving grace was perhaps Lavender. Lonely, he was not entirely alone, there was one other pokemon close to his age amidst all the of the adults who staffed the vast castle grounds. Lavender was a noble of another family, the Guild Masters as Klaus would learn from Lavender's mother, one of his personal tutors. Their line had served as the leaders of the guild since it had been established, and were one of the closest families to Gaiteuils. Lavender was not their first born, though he was their first son, and while him being in no place to succeed his father made it less politically important for Klaus to befriend him, it also made it easier for Lavender to have such freedoms as to visit often, lacking in many of the duties and trainings of his sister. In fact, the ralts was a sickly and frail little thing, and despite being a year older than Klaus, it often seemed quite the opposite with the care Klaus had to give him and the more submissive and passive mannerisms the psychic type showed to the young prince. His mother took Lavender with her often when she came to tutor Klaus, perhaps because of his bodily ailments, and it was perhaps natural that, lacking few other pokemon of his age, Klaus would quickly bond with the fragile ralts, and become good friends with him.[break][break]

Their playing and games were the one carefree and enjoyable thing Klaus had to himself. Perhaps that was why Klaus noticed he was lonely more after Lavender was gone then he had before he had grown close to Lavender. It was a natural consequence he supposed, Lavender's mother brought him less and less, and eventually, it seemed the two never saw each other anymore as more and more hours of Klaus' time became dedicated to his studies and training. He was expected to rule and entire nation, to both know it's generations of history and lead it through the next generation. Games and friendships simply took too much time and effort away from duty.[break][break]

Klaus turned back inwards.[break][break]

Studying just about consumed Klaus, as he would train his body into a weapon both graceful and powerful and his mind into a finely tuned machine. He would come to accompany his father more and more as he grew older, visiting important ambassadors and diplomats from other places, going to the city and the guild to handle matters, listening to his father debate in the meeting chamber with his advisor or discuss matters with the First Historian. It would be an important occasion to him when he would come to be taken to visit one of the most vital parts of their kingdom outside Klaus' father and the castle itself: the Shrine of Eternity. Several of the ceremonies Klaus had learned in his training had to do with the Shrine, or the High Priestess who cared and dwelled within, but his father had waited until he was old enough to truly understand to take him there. There he would help his father perform a ceremony of the new year, receiving the blessings of the High Priestess. And while the Priestess would speak to his father on matters of the future and the dynasty, Klaus would meet a young Munna. Still in his youth, he was quick to befriend her and perhaps more yearning for company than he realized, and his parents would silently cultivate this friendship, sending him on errands or having him join them on voyage to the Shrine often. It was important that the King and the Priestess be on good terms, and all the better to begin their friendship while both were young, to strengthen the kingdom.[break][break]

In a way, Klaus realized this ulterior motive. In a way, he wanted simply some companionship though, and she was a kind, if strange, pokemon, and a good friend in the absence of Lavender.[break][break]

Klaus would hear a couple years later that Lavender's sister was lost in an expedition into the mountains, making Klaus' childhood friend the heir to the family. He sent his regards for her, and his sincere wishes of consideration for Lavender, but there was nothing more Klaus could do in the end. He had his own work, and he could not afford to be there for Lavender, nor could Lavender afford the time, he was sure, for other distractions, as the newly appointed heir of his own family. Klaus focused on his own duties, disheartened to hear of strife with someone he had thought of as a friend, but schooled to know that his duties were more important. There was, after all, nothing he could do about a lost or dead sister, and it was wasted time and effort trying.[break][break]

Instead, Klaus focused on what he could do. And that was try to make sure that when his time came, he could make life better. That perhaps he could do something to help then. Maybe it was a vain thought, but he wasn't allowed time to help his friends grieving, and as harsh a truth as it was, when his father told him his studies were more important than worrying after the life of someone who was, in the grand scheme of things, less important than him, and about the life of one who was already dead and gone, he was forced to listen to the reason. It hurt, and in some ways, he felt it was wrong, but he could not argue it. He was too young, too powerless. And, left to ponder it in the vast halls of his own home, and to stew in it in the hours he spent training, trying to strengthen himself that he might evolve to hold the scepter, that he might be strong enough to defend himself or his people, and that he might be wise enough to never be in a situation where such defense was necessary and lead his people, he realized, that while it hurt, it was true in some ways as well. [break][break]

Klaus had cared for Lavender, for the way they blossomed like a flower when they were comfortable, for the care and kindness that they never seemed short of, but Klaus could not offer Lavender anything except words. And words... they could only do so little. Humbled by his weakness, and frustrated by it, Klaus buried himself in his studies, pushing even his young munna friend away. He held to his father's teachings like doctrine and pushed himself as hard as he could.[break][break]

It would come to Klaus, later, the news that Lavender had joined the guild, perhaps as part of his training to take his sister's place. Then, even later, that his partner would leave him, sending Lavender to grief. In his heart, Klaus wished he could have been that partner, to make sure he would have never had to leave his friend. But he also knew that such a wish would have been impossible. Just as he had to distance himself when they were children to focus on studies, he could not be a proper friend, now he had to distance himself to start to accompany his father on duties that one day would be his, and he could not be a proper partner. Still, he watched, as well as he could, over his friend, and felt his heart sour in empathy. To think that even those who enjoyed the prosperity of their kingdom, who had safety, civilization, and a means to look after themselves without having to hunt and fight each other, or go mad and lose themselves in the dungeons, could still be so cruel and selfish to each other...[break][break]

It broke Klaus' heart, to see his friend grieve from afar, and to know it was one of his own future subjects and not a feral pokemon or nature itself that had caused this. Still though, for Lavender, he was helpless to offer anything, and could only watch from afar. Lavender's mother gave the Kirlia what he could not. When Lavender would come to share his presence in the castle again, this time as a servant of his and his father among the Royal Guard, Klaus was glad, and while he tried to remain unbaised and absolute, as he had been taught, it was hard to not rekindle that friendship and keep Lavender close whenever he could. He would do anything to bring back to life in the Kirlia the little pale flower of a ralts he had once known.[break][break]

In some ways, Klaus imagined he was able to help. In other ways, he still isn't sure, he still doubts that it was him that did anything. But Lavender became himself again, or at least in part, and with a few good words from Klaus and Lavender's own hard work, the Kirlia was named General of the Royal Guard. Having his old friend so close by was both a comfort to the maturing prince, and it seemed, a good thing for the second evolution psychic type, as the two reforged their bonds and helped each other grow stronger. It was no easy thing for a mienfoo to evolve, but Klaus viewed it as a rite of passage and aspired to make that his goal, taking his friend success in climbing the Royal Guard as a challenge since by comparison, he had little to show for his own efforts besides some diplomatic acquaintances that were mostly the result of formal parties his father had either thrown or attended with him in tow. He had a betrothed as well, but such was also, hardly from any doing on his effort, and more the work of his father and the ruler of another kingdom who was willing to offer one of his younger daughters who was farther down the line of succession to perhaps bind their kingdoms closer together.[break][break]

At the end of day, Klaus had met her perhaps once or twice, and while she was a strikingly beautiful pokemon for her species, he couldn't say that he felt any real love, nor that he knew her in the slightest. He would jest about this, and tease Lavender for getting to choose to whom the Kirlia would give their heart and their vows one day, instead of being assigned a mating partner for the sake of having children and continuing pure family lines, but the topic always seemed to sour in a way he couldn't explain, both for himself and his friend.[break][break]

A lot of things seemed to have a way of souring. There had been no warning, the day Klaus would wake to find that his father's words to him when he had been a child had come to fruition. Jeannot II was found deceased one morning, passed away in the night. And not by natural causes.[break][break]

Emotionally, Klaus shut down. He had always known that the day he became King was most likely the day his father died, but it seemed too early, too sudden, too unexpected. He was still a mienfoo, a strong one, but not strong enough yet. He was still in his twenties yet, and he felt so desperately unprepared.[break][break]

On the surface however, there was no room for Klaus to break down. The kingdom needed a ruler, not a scared and crying boy grieving after his father. It had always been this way, and by now, he was more than used to eating his feelings and pushing past them. Klaus didn't smile, and he was swift to order and organize the hunt for the culprit of the late king's murder, and ruthless in his execution of trial and punishment. In the end, it meant so little though, for only weeks after he thought he had at least gotten what cold and bitter relief revenge could offer, he found that the one they had taken in had not even been guilty of his father's death, and was just a scapegoat. [break][break]

Confusion, anger, and a heaviness would weigh in Klaus' heart, almost as heavily as the crown now atop his head, metal and cold upon his fur. He resolved himself to his kingdom, and resolved himself to the promises he had made to serve it. That was his only goal now. And perhaps he made himself lonely again, letting the gap between himself and Lavender grow once more, and distancing himself from the successor of the Priestess whom he once had been so fond of playing with and spending afternoons talking with, seeing her only for ceremony and necessary occasions. [break][break]

Klaus would finally manage to evolve to a Mienshao when Lavender was forced to step down from General of the Royal Guard to take over his father's position as the Guild Master. Another expedition, from which no one seemed to have a cohesive and clear story of what had occurred, but none could down the absence of Lavender's father among their ranks now. From both within the kingdom, and from the dungeons without it, it seemed the world meant to test the kingdom, and Arceus meant to punish them still. It had not been enough, the disasters that had happened in his childhood, the droughts and storms. Perhaps there was some truth the old stories of those who had not been chosen by Arceus being disapproved upon the throne. But no matter.[break][break]

There was pride in the Gaiteuil name, and in what Klaus' line had done. They had made this kingdom, scratched it from the ruins of war between foreigners and restored it to the natives. This was his home. His kingdom.[break][break]

Klaus held to this belief as he watched Lavender take up his polite and vacant noble's smile again as the Guild Master. He held to it when the Prophecy was spoken to him by the words of his old childhood friend, the new Priestess a Musharna now, speaking of pokemon who were not pokemon, and a coming darkness only Chosen Ones could save them from. When right after telling him this she would vanish on a quest, he would hold his doubts, his uncertainty, his weakness, within himself. He couldn't entirely help the feeling from his childhood when he had first watched Lavender lose his sister, to realize that darkness was coming again, and he was helpless to stop it. Helpless as he had been for Lavender, twice now, and for his father. Now he would be so for his kingdom.[break][break]

Lavender had a plan at least though. And Klaus was determined to do what he could to support it, despite his misgivings of what was the come. When the changed began to appear, falling from the sky and appearing across his Kingdom, Klaus would watch over the Guild's actions gathering and homing them within the Guild walls. And he would keep his eye, and his guard, on his kingdom. Now, perhaps more than ever, he needed to do what he could, to make sure that those who had been chosen would survive, and would choose to help him protect his kingdom, rather than let it fall to ruins once more, perhaps this time in finality. No force, from the outlands that had claimed Lavender's family, to the vile pokemon within his own city who had claimed his father's life, could stop this.[break][break]

It was Klaus' responsibility to prevent this, solely and inevitably. He believed this, because what else was there to believe?

[attr="class","revcallstat"]26
ATK

[attr="class","revcallstat"]19
DEF

[attr="class","revcallstat"]00
SPATK

[attr="class","revcallstat"]19
SPDEF

[attr="class","revcallstat"]26
SPD