Saw (History)

A Sinnoh native, Saw (aka Stefan Cypress) was born into wealth. His parents, both lawyers with trust funds stretching back generations, wanted a trophy more than they wanted a child. As such, he spent his young life under a great deal of pressure to succeed -- academically, on the battlefield and in the many, many extracurriculars he was signed up for. His attention to detail and ability to pick up new skills quickly served him well on this front, but his social life suffered. Nevertheless, he was a rising star with a bright future. 

After successfully completing his primary education, Stefan (at the urging of his parents, as usual) left home to attend a prestigious (and snobby) Sinnohan university, majoring in general science with a minor in competitive battling. Things were looking up. 

Until they weren't. 

University wasn't kind to Saw. Bad test results and underperformance in classes sent him into a cataclysmic spiral of anxiety and depression as he struggled to stay afloat and hide his underwhelming grades from his parents. In addition to his collegiate woes, it was at this point he began grappling in earnest with his gender and sexuality, taking on the name "Stefan" and starting hormone replacement therapy, again without his parents' knowledge or approval.
Trying to keep all of this under the rug took a heavy toll, so in term two of his third year, he enrolled in a volcanology field school, flew to Alola, and promptly dropped out, glossing over any questions with vague buzzword-laden patter about "building soft skillsets", "networking with the science community" and "gaining work experience." In reality, he didn't know what he was going to do, but with his problems on the other side of the globe, maybe he could get his feet back under him. 

Alas, this was not to be. 

Wealthy enough to be free with his money and young enough to have hardly a lick of financial sense, Stefan found himself cash-strapped pretty fast, and without a resume, degree or any work experience he didn't have many job prospects. He also didn't have a team, on account of leaving his Pokémon in Sinnoh to spare them the unpleasantries of mandatory quarantine. 

It was at this point he began teaching himself the art of forgery.
Never anything too egregious, never too grand a sum; enough to live another day or two, enough to pay for another round of testosterone and a decent meal, nothing that would be noticed or missed. His sharp eye and fastidious detail work ensured his doctored checks didn't bounce. It was at about this point he "befriended" his Murkrow -- an ornery bird, too clever by half, known for sneaking into Hau'oli's mall and menacing tourists at the food court (which is exactly where and how he met it) and, shortly thereafter, "Kay." 

Originally from Hoenn, Kay made a living selling rare Pokémon to interested bidders to support her family, whose coastal farm was demolished by the rising sea caused by Team Aqua's bid to reawaken Kyogre. Impressed by his ability to snag her favorite spicy ramen at the Battle Buffet, she more or less declared herself his friend. While Stefan protested externally, he was grateful for both the pleasant company and Kay's charisma in dealing with other people, even if her taste in snack food left much to be desired. 

They became an unofficial criminal duo; Stefan took on the moniker of "Sawtooth", as a semi-oblique reference to a webcomic he once read, and suggested that if Kay wanted a more watertight alias, "Squarewave" might suit her (and keep with his semi-oblique referencing conventions). Thus, Saw and Square were born. 

They made a pretty good go of it as business partners -- Square handled the people work, Saw did the paperwork, and they split their profits. The income wasn't enough, though (as a vast majority got siphoned off to keep Square's family above water) and they existed on the fringes of society, camping out and living on corner-store snack food and scavenged berries. 

Then they got a major job: a wealthy customer willing to pay top dollar for a Cranidos.
Fossil Pokémon are notorious for the sheer amount of red tape and certification required to own one. This is understandable, given they are literally brought back from the dead. A prospective owner must be prepared to house, feed and care for an organism that lived and died millions of years in the past... But with that much cash on the line, how could they say no? 

It was Saw's biggest and most ambitious job to date. He spent weeks poring over every last scrap of the phony papers, ensuring they looked, felt, and (most importantly) read like the genuine article. The skull fossil itself wasn't hard to obtain, requiring only a single trip to the rock shop; the revival was done courtesy of a shady fellow camped out just off Route 8 with an illegal genetics lab in his trailer. Everything was primed and ready. All that was left was to pick up the payment and deliver the goods. 

Unfortunately, the buyer balked, and Saw and Square were left holding the bag. 

This marked the next addition to Saw's roster, Princess Bonehead "Boney M" Macklemore Rasputin, as named by Square. 

Stylish but illegal dinosaur in hand, the next major event in the joint career of the Dynamic Duo walked up to Square at a bar in the form of a very attractive woman.
While Saw drowned his sorrows in fruity vodka beverages, Square met up and hit it off with Plumeria, second in command for a little local outfit known as Team Skull. Saw didn't find out about this until the next morning -- he hadn't even had time to sleep off the inevitable hangover when Square shook him awake and dragged him to a ferry (where he proceeded to be thoroughly miserable and horribly seasick for the duration of the passage) and then onwards up Ula'ula's Route 16 for a meeting with a crime boss. 

Square was determined to join, consequence be damned, and Saw (while unsettled by the idea of enlisting in an actual honest to god gang, and horrified by Square's willingness to join a gang solely on grounds of wanting to spend more time with a hot girl she met at the bar while hopped up on cheap booze) wasn't about to let her go it alone. 

And then he spotted Guzma and all his reservations about being in a gang disappeared. 

This is where we find him today; a mid-rank grunt in a small-time criminal organization with an ill-advised crush on his boss.

(If you read this far, here's a bonus Saw Fact: he's blind in his right eye.)