Owens (Flickerworth Murkrow)

Owens the Murkrow served as the starter for Researcher Maple, and has been a near-constant companion ever since his journey to becoming a proper Professor of Shiny Pokémon began. His Flying-type, specifically, was used to serve as a counter for the issues Bug Pokémon always seemed to always have around his trainer.

During an unexpected trip into Ultra Space for a Free-For-All between many of the world's Legendaries, Owens was murdered while having to face down Ho-Oh and Yveltal, who were fighting for the supremacy of Death or Rebirth. Ho-Oh wound up killing Owens after missing Yveltal with a critical Sacred Fire, and seeing this prompted Flicker the Chandelure to possess Ho-Oh and force it to resurrect him, but due to the cause of death, the timing of the whole thing being cut short by the impromptu ending of the event, and the poorly-controlled nature of the resurrection, Owens came back...wrong. Personality completely intact, and physically more improved, but his Ability was changed to cause Fire Attacks to do STAB damage instead of a normal Murkrow ability, and his offensive power was well amplified at the cost of Defenses, Maximum Health, and the ability to ever evolve.

For winning the Free-For-All, even if in an unconventional way, Researcher Maple was eventually found by Necrozma, one of the judges, who gifted the trainer with a unique Z-Crystal specifically made for Owens' use, creating a Z-Move that causes a burn on ANY opponent and does either Dark or Fire-type damage, depending on which is stronger against the opponent.