Pokimono NPC: Noboru

Changed his clothes because I wasn't a big fan of his previous design (it was too simple and I didn't put much thought into it OTL) and Ren tore up his old clothes anyway. Left image is without his jacket and armor (and with his zillions of scars), right is how he usually looks.

Name: Aso Noboru (last name, first name)

Age: 29

Birthday: June 19

Height: 6'1"

Village: He lives nowhere in particular. He wanders around Pokimono constantly, but frequents Scorched Mountain the most because he likes to check on Kouki.

Job: Bounty Hunter (and also teaches swordsmanship to students he deems worthy, aka students that would practically kill themselves in their determination to learn OTL)

Ability: Infiltrator - ignores Reflect, Light Screen, Safeguard, and Mist under effect on the target.

Attacks:
Leech Seed - Leech Seed plants a seed on the target. At the end of each turn that the target is under the effect of Leech Seed, 1/16 of the target's HP will be drained, and the same amount of HP will be restored to your active Pokémon (even if it was not the Pokémon that originally used the attack). Recurrent Leech Seed draining will not occur if the seeded Pokémon defeats the target. Leech Seed will not work against Grass-type Pokémon. Rapid Spin will release a Pokémon from the effects of Leech Seed.
Aerial Ace - The user confounds the foe with speed, then slashes. The attack lands without fail.

Likes: Pain (inflicting or receiving it), a challenging opponent, determination/stubbornness, the bad qualities in people, the wind, music, alcohol, playing his reed flute, his scarf, Kouki, and BLOOOOOOOD (especially on white surfaces)

Dislikes: Spilling blood where it isn't readily visible, fire, when flowers and other plants get destroyed, bird gijinkas

Personality: By all appearances Noboru is a pleasant and thoughtful man. He is sweet, kind, considerate, patient, and always has a smile on his face. His temperament is as still and calm as the surface of an undisturbed lake. The only time his utterly tranquil disposition is disturbed is when he delves into his passion of spilling blood, whether it's someone else's or his own. His heart races and his face twists into something cruel, dangerous, and genuinely happy. He has a good grasp of morals and will generally do the right thing, except for when it's more fun to sit back and watch or when he wants to bring out the worst in people.

History: (skip if you don't want a ridiculously long read, seriously, I'm warning you) Noboru (before he changed his name) was born as Miura Saburo, the third and youngest son to a wealthy and prominent household. He was a sensitive boy who loved his family more than anything...well...almost anything. From a young age he showed interest in fighting, but his severe ferocity, ruthlessness, and apparent obsession with it struck concern in the women of the household. Their fears were further fueled by how with every practice dummy and doll he could find, he would color its face black and disembowel it with a blade. Rumors grew like wildfire and his father, who always had high hopes that Saburo would become a great samurai, began to receive criticism in the discipline of his son, whom people believed at this point went around at night as a serial murderer. Saburo was limited to practicing his swordsmanship only four hours per day while the rest was dedicated to academics. However, whenever the boy had a spare moment he would practice with a small pocketknife. Unfortunately when more mutilated dolls appeared, this time disemboweled and decapitated, the household came crashing down on him. His sisters were already avoiding him out of fear and hiding their dolls, but now his brothers began to avoid him as well. His parents harshly scolded him and locked away every blade from his grasp, even wooden swords. He became unsteady and nervous without them. His normally sweet temperament became foul and after a month without them he had become socially withdrawn, lashing out at anyone who tried to speak with him.
It was then that he met a certain Silcoon girl. She was the daughter of a servant in the Miura household and the warnings about Saburo were so deeply ingrained into her by her mother that upon seeing him walk toward her she threw the heaviest stone she could throw at him to drive him away. It struck him on the head and drew blood. However, instead of cringing in pain or retaliating at her, he smiled. The pain that screamed in his head invigorated his body; he had never felt so alive, not since he last sparred with his brothers. He decided that he liked the girl and that he would see her again.
Unfortunately for him, that was NOT in her plans. During her attempts to avoid him she would scream at him, throw things, or call for help, all while running away, but his pursuit was relentless (stalker much?). She was now the only person he cared about.
In the middle of the night when she was running a late errand for her sickly mother, the little girl was taken by a drunken and burly Croconaw of a man. Saburo, ever her stalker, silently pursued them. When the man had the little girl pinned to a wall of a back alley shed, Saburo snuck up behind him, stole his club from his belt, and soundly beat the drunkard until his skull caved in. The girl screamed, fainted, and was dropped off in her room by Saburo.
The following morning the entire household was in an uproar. The weapons storage building had been broken into and Saburo was missing, along with a few of the family's swords. The entire town and its perimeters were searched, but there was no sign of the boy. He had simply vanished, and was never to be seen by his family again.
After the girl had fainted that night, Saburo had found himself evolving into a Skiploom. Deeming himself no longer fit to live with his family, given the fact that he murdered a man, he decided to leave and move from town to town until he found one that had never heard of the Miura name. There he changed his name to Aso Noboru, and trained to be an explorer. He charted regions and hunted for treasures all around Pokimono.
It was during his travels that he met the Silcoon girl again, only now she had evolved into a Beautifly. Her name was Mitsu (蜜). She had abandoned her old name long ago, not wanting to be reminded of her time as a servant, and chose not to have a last name, only a memorable first name. Mitsu was a gorgeous vixen who was vain, lustful, greedy for wealth, manipulative, cruel, and who daily crushed men's hearts under her heels. She was someone who could never have enough of the misery she delighted in inflicting and who always desired more worshipers to crush. Thus, the prospect that Noboru raised to her in spreading her influence across the world was irresistible to her. She was also intrigued by the blood-stained boy who had rescued her so many years ago. He had so frightened her then but now his dangerous crimson eyes made her shudder with anticipation.
He took her on a trip that circled the globe, acting as servant, bodyguard, lover, and abused plaything to fuel her ego and obsession. The abuse cycled back and forth between them; she inflicted pain, neglect, and humiliation on him, and he purposely enraged, hurt, and depressed her. Even during times when they were disgusted and hated each other, they were inevitably drawn together again as passionately as when they first came together.
When they arrived back in Pokimono several years later, it was winter. While Mitsu and Noboru were taking a walk in the snow, she had a craving for her favorite sweet and ordered Noboru to go and get her some. While he was gone and she impatiently waited in the cold for him, she was seized from the sky and carried off. Noboru returned shortly after and managed to track her down based on clues given by nearby witnesses. He found her and her assailant in a snowy white field outside town.
The man that took her was a Staraptor, a former lover of hers who, like many others, had his heart so thoroughly wrung out and shredded by Mitsu that he was driven to multiple unsuccessful suicide attempts. Finally, on hearing of her return he decided he would take her with him in death if she didn't want him while they were alive. Thus in that cold snowy field, just as Noboru arrived, he saw the Staraptor bury his face in the pool of blood that sputtered from Mitsu's chest, watched him as he bathed his face in her blood, her warm life liquid that melted the snow around her...
In a flash Noboru took the man down. He broke the Staraptor's arms and legs before pinning him to the ground and breaking every bone in his wings. He hacked the feathers off until they drew blood and then proceeded to stab the man in every non-vital location of his body possible until he bled to death...well, almost. While on the brink of death, Noboru slit the man's throat to purely witness the spray of blood it produced.
There was nothing more beautiful to him than that moment, nothing more beautiful except...Mitsu. The way her dead body lay in the white snow, her sweet life oozing from her body and spreading through the ice, was a feast for the eyes. The way her blood trickled away and gathered in small pools around her made him think of red flowers...red flowers blossoming around her body, as if nature itself was mourning her death. As he stood there watching her pale body turn blue and her red flowers freeze in the snow, he evolved into a Jumpluff, with hair and skin that reflected the colors of the bloodied ice and snow. He cried...and smiled, knowing how much Mitsu would relish his misery right then.
Noboru wandered purposelessly for a long time afterward until he was attacked by bandits along a road. He promptly slew them and found his body invigorated by the sight of their dead bodies, more specifically the blood that was spilled. It reminded him of the feeling he experienced on seeing Mitsu's blood, but the blood on the brown dirt was not nearly as pretty as it was in the white snow. While violence no longer gave him as much of a thrill as it did when he was a child, spilling blood seemed to fill that empty gap that Mitsu left behind. He would grow many red blossoms in her memory...
After the Kami Trio War:
Nothing much has changed with him after the war. When he doesn't have a bounty contract to hunt, he's been occupying his time with re-exploring Pokimono since the terrain has changed so much. He's become more manipulative of people's hearts and is coming to realize that he may never fall in love again, being unable to find anyone as interesting and inescapable as Mitsu. Without Kouki to take care of and to travel at his side, Noboru finds himself descending further and further into his own dark obsession. He's becoming more disconnected and disinterested with average people and the facade he wears for them...

Additional Info:
-trained Kouki for five years in combat and sword training after Kouki ran away from home. In addition to being his mentor he was a surrogate father figure.
-no matter how much wear and tear is inflicted on his scarf, if he washes it, it's as fluffy as ever
-he loves Kouki to pieces (especially when he trains so hard he hurts himself), and thinks that Kouki is quite adorable, though he would never voice it (because fairy boy would be pissed)
-the butterfly he wears is reminiscent of Mitsu. Kouki also has butterflies on his clothing since he believes that students should wear some symbol of their master, but not even Kouki knows Noboru's history or Mitsu.
-is extremely skilled at sword fighting, however he's somewhat well-versed in a multitude of other weapons, like the bow and arrow, twin swords, hook swords, etc.
-is fluent in Japanese and English and semi-fluent in Chinese from his constant traveling
-he can jump long distances or even fly when the wind is blowing and weighs a lot less than he looks

Noboru (c) Me!

Kouki's app [link]

Done in PaintTool SAI~