Truffle Goodnight

amiable • collected • reserved

Truffle was born the youngest of three to a fairly aged couple with a natural love for life. However, that happy familiar life was seemingly unfit for Truffle, a freak accident occurring just 5 months after his birth. Amber and Euca, his two older sisters, were playing outside on a Sunday afternoon, parents Jupiter and Rose busy with the laundry. Amber, the eldest, was running after Euca with a wild Foongus in her hands when the pokemon decided it had had enough of the two's antics. Frustrated, the creature released a storm of spores that distracted and temporally blinded Amber, Euca running in after to make sure her sister was alright. Not wanting their parents to worry and not feeling any negative effects or pain, the children shrugged it off, returning inside for dinner as the sun went down.

Unknowingly to the children, however, Foongus's spores had stuck to their clothes and hair as they sat down to eat. A grass-poison type, nothing good came from the close exchange of plates and laughs between the four older family members. Over the next 12 hours, Truffle's sisters developed an awful cough and skin rash, the symptoms eventually spreading to his parents and eventually himself. After the initial fits of illness though, the house went silent.

Around 2 am, neighbors were alerted by the sound of a baby's cries. WIthout good daylight, however, they could not enter the house and gather enough details to make a report. In the morning, around 6 am, authorities were called out to the property, discovering that the entire family, except Truffle, had succumbed to a deadly fungal infection. An attack on the epidermis, poisonous shrooms had sprouted from their bodies, releasing spores and spreading throughout the house. Most had died in their sleep, separated in their bedrooms, the only outlier being Rose. She had crawled from her bed to meet the side of Truffle's crib, her body still in the shape of a cradle as she held the still-crying baby in her arms. 

Rescuers assumed that the fungus had little effect on Truffle due to his youth and active immune system, but the rest of his neighbors felt otherwise. They started a rumor very quickly that the child was cursed, no one wanting to take him in for fear of their own safety. Because of this, Truffle was then relocated to the Kanto City Children's Home and Away School, wherein no distant family in the area attempted to pick him up due to the horrific rumors.

These rumors didn't help his time a the orphanage either. As a child, kids and some caretakers made sure that he knew of his 'curse,' the apparent bad luck he carried only adding to the effect. They would avoid or even openly mock Truffle, locking him out of social groups or activities within the school. Being naturally quiet, however, he didn't seem to mind much, preferring hours spent at the end of the dinner table reading whatever books he could get his hands on or by strolling behind and observing the surroundings of his school's pokemon graveyard on walks.

His younger years were mostly alone, but only until the arrival of a younger child named Ghastra. Shy and reserved, Truffle didn't do much to reach out, but Ghastra found a way, often being lumped together in the sphere of 'weird kids.' The two became quite a pair, growing up together through varying ups and downs. Ghastra was clearly more sociable than him, but they would often be spotted hanging out together on the orphanage grounds or touring the town--Truffle still not knowing much of the area despite living there for many years. She felt like family to him, so much so that the two decided to take the same last name in the sphere of their school.

They often talked about ghosts and spirits, different stories they'd read and enjoyed, or just asked each other questions to pass the time. On occasion, the two would be assigned to help out at different parts of the home, be it the kitchen, bathroom, general cleanup, or even the graveyard. Truffle's favorite job was always to help pluck mushrooms from graves and trees, learning quickly how to identify and test them while working in the kitchen. Being such a helpful partner, the current funeral director of the poke-cemetary offered him an apprenticeship and even his first pokemon--a klefki that he then named Minette. 

However, it seemed almost that all of this was too good to be true. One evening the two were taking a shortcut through the school graveyard to reach a nearby park. Upon Ghastra's request, they started a small ghost hunt through the headstones and fences. Though, the only thing they found was a large Amoongus. Agitated, the pokemon released a large cloud of spore before running away, startling both Truffle and Ghastra in the meantime. Truffle, unfortunately, ran in the opposite direction of Ghastra, turning back to see only a wall of trees in her absence. 

He searched the graveyard, park, and town until nightfall for her, eventually returning to the children's home alone. Instead of heading to his bedroom, he instead entered the funeral home with the help of Minette, laying down on one of the waiting room couches and soundlessly crying himself to sleep until morning. He regretted every bit of his actions, wishing only that he could undo his existence and everything about himself. Bad luck.

.  .  .

Truffle, now 24 years old, took the place of the old funeral director. He takes care of the late pokemon that kids of the orphanage find or had, making sure that their final resting place is happy and calm. He spends most of his days either working or taking care of who he knows as his younger sibling, now the culmination of both Gastra and a possessive Drifloon. Something in him, be it regret or honest hope, wishes to someday convince the two to separate. For now, however, he does what he can to get by, living for the day his curse gets disproven by the stubbornest of wills changing.

	Ghastra Goodnight [ adoptive sibling ]		The two were really close before. Truffle remembers the image of her smile fondly, missing the hours they'd spend telling each other spooky stories or reading books about anything and everything.
	Ghastra Goodnight ? [ drifloon ]		Truffle tries his best to be warm to the drifloon possessing his sibling's body in the hopes that one day it will leave and return his sister. However, for now, the two are moreso roommates, Truffle taking most of it's human-offending blows smoothly.
	Jupiter, Rose, Amber, & Euca Destin [ birth family † ]		Truffle does not hold any memories of his family, but he has a few photos. They look lovely and happy, especially for his birth and addition to the family.
	Cynthiana Aeros [ retired mentor ]		The previous funeral director at the Kanto City Children's Home and Away School. Truffle enjoys their company and learned a lot from their teachings. He's happy to carry on their work and even visits their home in town sometimes.
		Minette [ klefki ]	Kingsley [ parasect ]	Jack [ shedinja ]	Muriel [ gourgeist ]	Froma [ ✧ chandelure ]