Flynn Smith
So! This is Flynn Smith, a character of mine who 1) isn’t directly based on an established canon character (nameless NPCs don’t count), 2) isn’t being “officially” used anymore, and 3) has a decent amount of story that, thanks to point #2, I’m just gonna casually write out to the best of my memory. Buckle up, kiddos, it’s time for DUMP! THAT! INFO!
pre-TFE
The earliest version of Flynn was “unnamed grunt C” and… I kinda forget what his original purpose was, actually. But he was supposed to be a stereotypical charmer, voted most likely to fanboy over Team Flare to the end of his days. At some point he picked up the placeholder name Casey, then Adrian/Adrien (never managed to get the a/e consistent), and the surname Smith. Surname was also supposed to be a placeholder but it was so perfectly generic it stuck.
I’d need to revisit <2016 versions of the storyline[1] to know for certain what he did, but he was a one-scene wonder.
[1] If you have no idea what TFE is, the short version is that it’s a Pokémon XY-based “nuzlocke” comic that ran strongly 2016-2017, petered out, and has been sorta-kinda canceled. I don’t intend to pick it back up in its current state, but I would like to publicize as much as I had planned as possible. Someday. Eventually. Because why not.
Said plans weren’t 100% solid start to finish, hence the uncertain status of various developments.
The Firebird Effect
This constitutes of a majority of Flynn’s development, including his current name–and I’d be lying if I said he didn’t get a significant amount of character development courtesy chats with Phyllored. At first Flynn was a one-scene wonder; later he took over roles that grunts A or B would’ve filled. As of the “final” version of the plot, he had two scenes set in stone, and a few ideas that may or may not have made it onscreen.
Route 8
Flynn’s first appearance might have been during a “filler” scene around Route 8/Cyllage City. As the main characters move out, focus swings over to him, as he ignores his girl of the week in favor of an “emergency” text from the head of Team Flare[2]. The text informs recruits that a recent incident at Glittering Cave was unplanned, and anyone with information is encouraged to divulge ASAP. Furthermore, in an effort to repair public perception of the Team, an awareness memorial—
The girl interrupts to declare she’s breaking up. Close curtain on Flynn begging for her back.
[2] For what it’s worth, Team Flare got a major overhaul in TFE, and later got renamed entirely as the Fleur Foundation. It warrants an infodump of its own, probably, but for clarity’s sake I’ll use “Team Flare” exclusively here.
Route 10
Flynn’s first major appearance (and originally his only scene), still as an unnamed Flare recruit, is on Route 10. Unlike the previous scene, he’s in full uniform now, and is one of several grunts standing among the ancient stones. Most are paying tribute to the monuments in some way, while a strat few try to get the attention of passerby; of the latter, Flynn is by far most enthusiastic.
When Serena finally tries to excuse herself, Flynn recognizes her from reports on the Glittering Cave incident and buckles down on keeping her around. The encounter is intercepted by a figure in a trenchcoat, who grills Flynn and pulls Serena aside. He insists he was only informing a curious youth, ma’am, no issue! When the scene changes, Flynn is already moving to the next hapless tourist.
Flare Café
Less a scene and more a canon occurrence that may or may not have been onscreen: at a Lumiose café (not named Lysandre Café but sponsored by him, as indicated by background details), Flynn discusses Team Flare’s recent mishaps with his roommate and (on Flynn’s end) close friend Ren. He’s pissed that the Team he considers family has started going to shit, between the Glittering Cave incident leading to several arrests and other rumors of a secret group-within-the-group. Furthermore, no one seems to actually care about this; the rumor mill churns and the oldies roll their eyes, and no one’s willing to do a damn thing about it. But fear not! Flynn has a lead, and he’s gonna check it out first chance he gets.
Ren, who’s working behind the counter, is silent throughout. Flynn pays no mind to their lack of response.
Lumiose Badlands
Within the week, half of Lumiose City goes black, including the area with Ren’s apartment. Flynn is gone, but he left a note saying he’s gonna check it out. Ren turns on the radio and is caught up to speed: At the Power Plant in Lumiose Badlands, uniformed members of Team Flare have taken workers hostage and are refusing authorities entry. They claim they’ll surrender without resistance as soon as the lights go on.
Serena is one of several forming a crowd around the Power Plant when she receives an anonymous note: “Meet me [nearby, setting pending] or your secret will be MINE alone no longer ;)”
Surprise, it’s Flynn, and though he’s grinning he is infuriated. He ignores questions and dumps his backstory: once upon a time he was an everyday office worker, and then his boss was murdered and he got framed because he got mad at her the day before, the bitch. But rather than waste away in prison, he found his saving light in Team Flare. No, they’re not a cult–the Team takes in those who society has rejected and transforms them into someone beautiful. And despite recent mishaps, they are certainly not criminals–not that Serena can judge.
Serena’s not the only one who can do research. Flynn knows she was not only present the night of the mine collapse, right below Vaniville, but caused its downfall.
Major plot hole alert: I never figured out exactly how Flynn learned this. The café scene might have provided some insight, but eventually this was sorta-remedied (among other unrelated issues) by merging Flynn and Ren’s characters. Again, another tangent for another time. Point is, he knows the Dark Secret, and Serena is not happy.
Neither is Flynn, of course. His smile drops as he says someone very close to him died in that little “incident,” and he would be very happy to see Serena dead. Throughout the scene he has her cornered both verbally and physically, and at this point her back’s against a wall/cliff/[other relevant setting detail].
However! Flynn is a forgiving person. Even though she actually killed people, he’s associated with worse. That’s the beauty of Team Flare—they don’t care who you are, just who you can become. And you, Serena Johnson, would fit right in. Flynn bemoans the current state of the Team, then reveals he called Serena here not to attack but ally with her. Between the mine and other disasters she’s participated in, surely she knows something he doesn’t.
Serena, to put it nicely, fucking hates this proposal. She sics her team on Flynn, though they hesitate upon realizing Flynn has no pokémon of his own; he can’t put up a fight. Serena flees for the Power Plant, and the team follows; Flynn is left shaken, maybe incapacitated, but still alive.
Arson & death
Flynn probably should’ve had a scene or at least mention between that and the following sequence, but nothing was developed. Jumping forward a few days, Flynn is next seen back in the cafe, specifically above it–the cafe is the bottom floor of a nameless skyscraper. He and Ren are patrolling the building as night security guards—not their usual jobs by a long shot, but the Team is having issues and someone’s gotta do it.
This… does not end well. Flynn loses track of Ren at some point, and by the time he catches up, he finds the space doused in gasoline. When he opens the door, he’s greeted to a wave of flame as the building is set ablaze.
R.I.P. Flynn Smith 199x–2013.
Current status
As mentioned above, Flynn and Ren’s characters were eventually combined, but they’re distinct enough to not get scrapped entirely—or at least Flynn is. Other characters have picked up many of Ren’s traits by now, but Flynn still has his niche as token straight white dudebro with a flair for the dramatic.
Which brings us to the present day, where Flynn is… dubiously involved in that one side story that still needs a got dang name. I say “dubiously” because a LOT of this story is under heavy construction, and while I’ve definitely been entertaining the idea of his involvement, it’s not super likely he’ll be central—if he stays in at all. But who knows, stuff’s changing.
For all intents and purposes:
- He meets Nico (ponytail dude) and they’re, like, not gay at all, man. Flynn is screaming #NOHOMO the whole time.
- Actually, Flynn is interested in Nico primarily for Nico’s girlfriend. Flynn does not get to see Nico’s girlfriend often and that makes Flynn sad, but at least Nico’s fun to hang around. (Nico’s girlfriend seems to hate Flynn’s guts, actually. She seems to hate everyone’s guts. Flynn is not dissuaded.)
- The Flynn/Nico introduction may or may not take place 1) at a gay bar, 2) courtesy mutual friend Ava, and 3) with Flynn not having lost a trace of his TFE-era “hello stranger, let me tell you about my life and problems!” chattiness. Nico could not give less of a shit but at least someone’s filling the silence.
Miscellneous factoids
- Flynn’s hairstyle is modeled after the Team Flare logo, right down to the weird split sideburns. It also happens to realistically look like fucking Cr1TiKaL. This was a recent realization, again courtesy phyllored, and I’m still not over it.
- Yes, it’s dyed that orange. This… may or may not stay; no Flare, no reason to pick that hue. It feels so Iconic™ but I should probably get used to his natural brown.
- His original height was 6′00″ (to parallel Serena, who’s 5′00″) but nowadays it’s ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- I never did develop that close friend of Flynn’s who died in the mine. Flynn and Ren’s relationship, however, has gotten significant development. Which is a bit of a shame because Ren is kinda more of a beta [merged guy] than their own character at this point, but no one said I can’t recycle dynamics, too.
- His voiceclaim is Ivan Alexander from the game Bully. There used to be a video of all Ivan voiceclips on YouTube but it seems to have been deleted and this makes me sad. Thankfully I have a copy of the audio saved; parts of it can be heard in the animations below.
- For all his shittalk, Flynn could never actually kill someone. If he could be summed up in one word it would be “fake.”
Gallery
References
Assorted scribbles
Fanart
Displayed with permission. See clickthrough captions for sources.
