Shinji Ikari

"I mustn't run away!"

Shinji Ikari is a main character in SUMOverse. He is the son of Gendo Ikari and late Yui Ikari, and befriends Champion Hikari Toshiko on his journey through the Sinnoh region, who serves as a mentor and companion to him. Currently he lives in Kotobuki City, Sinnoh, with Misato Katsuragi as his guardian and Asuka Langley Soryu as his roommate and rival.

## Basic Information

Shinji in SUMOverse is essentially the same character seen in *Neon Genesis Evangelion.* He was picked up as a character in 2016 by Neg, who then gave him several alternate universes. Through writing in which he and Hikari interacted, his *Pokémon* backstory developed to be heavily intertwined with Hikari's.

## Appearance

Shinji is short and slim, standing at 4'10" (148 cm) and weighing 102 lbs (46 kg). He has fair to medium skin, short, dark brown hair, and blue eyes. Concealed by his pants are several scars along his thighs, ending just above his knees.

His trainer outfit consists of a maroon undershirt with black patterns on the front, a blue and black collared shirt worn open over this, black jeans, and white sneakers. He wears blue and black fingerless gloves and a simple black choker. His backpack is white and gray, and the front zipper has a small Pokémon keychain on it.

## Personality

Largely passive and unassertive, Shinji's approach to life is to avoid all things physically and emotionally painful. He has little to no sense of self-worth, berates himself often, and apologizes frequently. This stems from his childhood, where he lost his mother, Yui Ikari, and was abandoned by his father, Gendo Ikari, shortly after. Because of this and several other instances of rejection throughout his life, Shinji has a deeply rooted fear of rejection and abandonment.

In order to get by in life, Shinji has a tendency to simply do as he is told to do by others without questioning it. At least for the first half of his story, most of what he does is because he was instructed by others to do it. He has been playing the cello since he was five years old, but only began lessons because his teacher instructed him to, and kept playing only because no one ever told him to stop. Later, he left Misato's apartment with Hibiki and Pen-Pen simply because of the societal norm that all children of at least ten years old have Pokémon of their own, but had no intention of taking on Sinnoh's Gym challenge. He only started collecting badges after persuasion by Hikari and Asuka.

When provoked, Shinji can be emotionally extreme, prone to breakdowns and irrational anger. Where he might otherwise be cautious, he may act rashly and impulsively, or make accusations toward the other party. He also has some blunt and sarcastic tendencies towards those he has opened up to (for example, Misato, in regards to her less than tidy lifestyle).

Above all else, Shinji desires acceptance and validation from others in his life, and will act however he believes he must in order to obtain it. In doing this, he tends to act primarily in his own interests above those of others. However, when someone has gained his trust, he is capable of being kind and gentle to those people.

## History

### Childhood

Shinji was born to Yui and Gendo Ikari on June 6th, 2001, in Tokusane City, Hoenn. His parents were affiliated with the Hoennese branch of the Galactic Corporation, a research organization dedicated to the betterment of the human race. However, when Shinji was very young, Yui and Gendo were advised to move to Sinnoh, Galactic's main hub, to continue their research directly under the esteemed Professor Nanakamado.

For a few months, Yui remained at home to care for Shinji and see to his schooling while Gendo continued research under Nanakamado. Once the Ikaris were settled in, Yui resumed her work, beginning research on the subject of Sinnoh's Legendary Pokémon. One day, Yui went to do field research at the summit of Mount Tengan, and never returned. For several weeks to a month after, it was only Gendo at home with Shinji, until he finally left their home in Masago Town, leaving responsibility for Shinji with his teacher. The only traces Gendo left behind were a walkman, and the Chatot that had been living with the family as a pet since Shinji was born.

For eight years, Shinji lived with his teacher, until in 2012, he was sent to live instead with researcher Misato Katsuragi in Kotobuki City. The small apartment was occupied by Shinji, Misato, Chatot (later named Hibiki by Shinji), and Pen-Pen, Misato's Piplup. Shinji intended to leave with Hibiki on his journey that year, but news broke out of criminal activity conducted by a group called Team Galactic. According to media coverage, the Galactic Corporation, renamed Team Galactic under Akagi Saitou's leadership, was now attempting to use its research findings to harness the power of Sinnoh's Legendary Pokémon to create a new world. They were soon stopped by Hikari Toshiko, but due to the possibility of lingering danger, Misato insisted on keeping Shinji home with her for several years after the incident. In this time, Shinji only saw his father once, when he was summoned by him to visit his mother's grave.

### Pokémon Journey

Three years passed between the events surrounding Team Galactic and Shinji's departure on his journey. Initially, he only intended to bring Hibiki with him, but Misato instead let Pen-Pen accompany Shinji as well. Pen-Pen had been by Misato's side for several years prior as both a Contest Pokémon and a battling Pokémon, and thus was more experienced. However, in the early stages of his travels, Shinji began to encounter people in gaudy uniforms threatening to steal his Pokémon. When Misato next called him, he reported this to her. She immediately recognized these as remnants of Team Galactic, and reported this to Professor Nanakamado. News was eventually leaked to the media and made public. In his repeated run-ins with members of Neo Team Galactic, Shinji would sometimes end up caught on news reporters' cameras battling them.

Coincidentally, this media exposure would eventually bring him to cross paths with Hikari Toshiko, who had not been on the public scene in the three years separating Galactic's fall and Neo Galactic's rise. She approached Shinji with the belief that he had knowledge about Galactic's new iteration. Not wanting a repeat of the incidents of 2012, Hikari began to follow Shinji on his travels throughout Sinnoh. Her primary goal was to prevent a second rise of Galactic, but in the process, Hikari ending up mentoring the novice trainer on battling and catching Pokémon.

In this time, Shinji would also be sought out by a hot-tempered redheaded girl, who apparently knew Shinji had encountered Galactic because of media coverage. However, she was surprised to see him traveling with the region's current Champion. She challenged Shinji to a battle and won, but despite the evident gap in each trainer's skill level, it was a close defeat with Hikari there to aid Shinji. Frustrated with the circumstances, the girl left.

Later, Shinji would return home to Kotobuki for a couple of days to recover from the loss, only to find that the same girl had moved into Misato's apartment. Her name was Asuka Langley Soryu, and she had been staying with a college ex of Misato's for a time before he became busy with his duties with the International Police and asked Misato to take her in. Both were aghast at their prospective roommates, but at Misato's demand, the two reluctantly agreed to live together.

Shinji remained home for a few days, at a loss for what to do on his travels, especially with Neo Team Galactic around. In his time back home, Asuka told Shinji about her own Pokémon journey a year or two prior, wherein she collected all eight of Sinnoh's Gym badges. Hikari, who was staying with the two for a few days, suggested that Shinji take on the Gym challenge himself. At first, he refused, not believing himself to be cut out for competitive battling. However, with Hikari offering to mentor him and Asuka and Misato pressing him not to run away, Shinji caved and set out again.

Insert something here about meeting Rei, they run into each other a lot and form a weird bond

Over the course of his journey, Shinji caught a Ralts, befriended a Mimikyu, and was gifted an Eevee, which he named Yui, Kyu, and Prince, respectively.

### Neo Galactic and Gendo Ikari

While traveling Sinnoh, Shinji and Hikari ran into Gendo several times and for very brief periods, which would be Shinji's first time seeing his father in three years. Their exchanges were brief, blunt, and often one-sided on Shinji's part. It wouldn't be until after several encounters that Shinji would realize that his father remained with Team Galactic not only throughout their criminal work three years prior, but also into the present. In the three years separating Galactic's two iterations, Gendo became a high-ranking executive. Shinji has asked several times what his father is planning and why he's continued his work for Galactic, but has never gotten a straight answer.

### Meeting Kaworu

Upon arrival to the small but historic Kannagi Town, locals advised Shinji and Hikari to inspect the cave painting, which was just about the town's only tourist attraction. At the cave which held said painting, Shinji and Hikari ran into Kaworu Nagisa, who already knew who the two of them were. In a rather forward gesture, he asked to accompany the two of them inside the cave. He then proceeded to explain the lore behind ithe painting inside, proving his extensive knowledge of Sinnoh's origin myths, and especially surrounding the three Lake Spirits, Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie. Kaworu was especially kind to Shinji, and Shinji found himself drawn to Kaworu almost right away.

However, shortly after this exchange, Gendo appeared at the cave on business for Team Galactic. It wasn't until then that Shinji learned that not only was Gendo a high-ranking executive in Team Galactic, but he had also taken over as its commander in chief after former commander Akagi's disappearance in the Torn World. Shinji's resentment towards his father grew when he realized that he was the one orchestrating all of Galactic's activities.

After a physically and emotionally exhausting Pokémon battle between Gendo and Shinji, Kaworu offered to accompany Shinji and Hikari on their travels. He joined the duo, and soon grew extremely close to Shinji, bringing him comfort when it seemed that circumstances were only getting worse for him. He would guide him through new places and show him things he hadn't discovered in the old (for instance, it was Kaworu to eventually bring Shinji out of his shell enough to shine in a doubles' Contest on a visit back to Yosuga City). Eventually, Kaworu declared his feelings for Shinji, and after fighting with himself internally over the vulnerability that comes with a relationship, Shinji eventually admitted the same to Kaworu. By this point, Hikari had come to trust in Kaworu, realizing that he showed Shinji kindness that no one else had.

blah blah bonding, kaworu meets asuka and rei, something happens that leads to team galactic finding out that kaworu has connections to the lake trio

One day, Shinji woke to find that Kaworu was not with them. He and Hikari made several desperate attempts to contact him, but to no avail. When Shinji began to assume the worst, he came across Rei, who revealed that Kaworu was in Team Galactic's headquarters, along with the three Lake Spirits. The three of them rushed to Team Galactic's headquarters and battled their way to the main room, where indeed, they found Kaworu and the Lake Trio, along with Gendo and an older man at his side. In a fit of rage, Shinji battled his father, only barely defeating him. Eerily calm about his defeat, Gendo and the man left the room, bringing Rei with them, and Kaworu and the Lake Trio were free to go. Unhurt but slightly shaken, Kaworu reported that Gendo was planning to use the Trio's and "his" power to bring humanity to a state where everyone would "make up for the holes in each other's hearts." Remembering the events of years ago, Hikari insisted that everyone hurry to Mount Tengan.

write a thing in here later about fuyutsuki revealing the truth about rei to shinji and co

### Mount Tengan and the Torn World

When Hikari, Shinji, and Kaworu scaled the mountain and reached Spear Pillar, they found that Asuka was there, fighting off an ambush waiting for anyone who might try to interfere. Even though she had singlehandedly defeated most of the grunts and executives, it was still an uphill battle, and she and her Pokémon were both just beginning to falter. Kaworu and Hikari joined the fray, insisting that Shinji go ahead to investigate.

By the time the ambush was defeated, however, Gendo was already initiating the creation of the new world. The Diamond Orb and White Orb were merged with Rei's body. Gendo procured two Red Chains created from Kaworu and the Lake Trio, and, using them and Rei, summoned Dialga and Palkia. Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie appeared to try to interfere, but the use of the Red Chains began to interrupt the link between Kaworu and the trio. When Shinji frantically asked what was wrong, Kaworu revealed that he is a vessel for fragments of each of the Lake Trio's souls, and that his link to them is what keeps him alive and well, as well as serving as a source of power for him. Although the Lake Spirits attempted to protect him, the use of the Chains broke the link and caused Kaworu's death.

Horrified, and clothes stained with Kaworu's blood, Shinji could only watch, traumatized, as Dialga and Palkia appeared before Gendo. Rei, however, noticing Shinji's plight, took the Diamond and White Orbs into herself, turned away from Gendo, and reunited Dialga and Palkia with the missing fragments of their souls. Now merged with the two Pokémon, Rei established a link to Shinji's mind, turning control of the fabric of time and space over to him.

However, the disruption angered Giratina, which then opened the portal to the Torn World and, just as it did with Akagi, took Gendo into its domain. Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie followed. By now, Shinji was broken, and did not want to go into the Torn World after his father. He begged Dialga/Palkia/Rei to stop the distortion that was spreading outward from the portal, but both Hikari and Asuka insisted that if he didn't go in and close it, nothing would stop, and Kaworu and Rei's deaths would have been in vain.

Eventually, Hikari and Shinji entered the Torn World, guided by the Lake Trio, while Asuka remained behind to monitor the situation in their own world. In the three years since it was last disturbed by humans, Akagi's soul had been drifting aimlessly about the Torn World without a body to signify his existence. Left to remain as a formless consciousness, Akagi had warped the Torn World into a place where one cannot exist as an individual, where there is no distinction between the end of one person and the beginning of another. The only things that could exist as its own separate entity were Giratina, who was far more powerful than Akagi, and Hikari, who was protected by Giratina because of her previous trip to the Torn World.

Both Gendo and Shinji lost their physical bodies upon entering the Torn World. Navigating through the Torn World for Shinji was much more like navigating a dream than an actual, physical realm. With Dialga/Palkia/Rei protecting Shinji from the outside, however, Shinji was guided after his father into the heart of the Torn World. However, he did not get there without several deep examinations into his psyche by Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. Apparitions of Hikari, Rei, Asuka, Kaworu, and several others that Shinji knew would ask deeply provocative questions attacking his cowardice and bringing his insecurities to the forefront. However, the most prominent guides through this state of being were apparitions of Akagi and of his own mother, Yui, each of whom had lost their human forms to the deities of Sinnoh at some point in the past. While Akagi would try to convince Shinji of the benefits of a world without human spirit or individuality, Yui would stress the values of being able to recognize oneself, interact with others, and realize one's own worth.

Eventually, Shinji would reject the world that Akagi proposed, causing everything the distortion in his own world to come to a stop and returning him to his physical body. Upon returning to consciousness, however, Shinji would find that Giratina had killed his father in rather graphic fashion. But the portal to his own world was open for him and Hikari to pass through, and they returned to their own world. The Spear Pillar was badly warped, but the world was saved from complete destruction.

[note to self; revise and include misato somewhere]

### Sympathy of Xerneas

After the events of the Spear Pillar, Shinji, Hikari, Asuka, and Misato all returned to Misato's apartment to recuperate. However, the loss of Kaworu sent Shinji into an inconsolable state of depression. He recovered Kaworu's Pokémon before leaving Mount Tengan and cared for them alongside his own Pokémon, but apart from that, was unable to leave the apartment or sometimes even move from his bed. Hikari, Asuka, and Misato all tried to get Shinji to move on, but to no avail.

Kaworu's Pokémon remained with Shinji to mourn for weeks, or perhaps months. But one day, Kaworu's Dragonite would abruptly and without warning take off from the apartment and leave, worsening Shinji's emotional state. Though, what he was not aware of was that the Legendary Pokémon of life, Xerneas, was sought out by Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie, and alerted of what had taken place. The Lake Spirits had not been in contact with Shinji or Hikari in the time since Kaworu's death because they were acutely aware of Shinji's anguish and were bargaining with Xerneas to give him another chance at life. Xerneas would oblige, and Dragonite, aware of this, had taken off to fly its trainer from Kalos to Sinnoh. When Dragonite returned from its journey, Kaworu and Shinji were reunited, though not without suspicion from Hikari for some time after the fact.

After taking a few days to get back on his feet, Shinji would resume his Gym challenge with Kaworu and Hikari at his side again, and eventually challenge the Elite Four.

## In Moonverse

In Moonverse, Shinji's story remains the same until after the tragedy on Mount Tengan. Kalos in Moonverse follows the canon of *Pokémon Y,* and because of this, Xerneas was never awakened by the protagonist, and Kaworu never had his second chance at life. Hikari and Asuka had to persuade Shinji to get back on his feet, but, still shaken by Kaworu's death, Shinji gave up the Gym challenge and never took on the Elite Four.

Moonverse Shinji also assumed responsibility for the care of Kaworu's Pokémon, who had no place to go after the loss of their trainer. Due to regulations by the Sinnohan government, Shinji could not officially have all six of them as part of his team battling for him, even though he was allowed to raise them. But with one open slot on his belt, Kaworu's Sylveon became the final member of his party.

After a few years of quiet existence, however, George Foyet broke into Misato's apartment and attacked Hikari, seeking control of Giratina. Hikari battled Foyet, but was killed by his Aegislash. Eventually, Misato woke, hurried into the living room, and tried to shoot Foyet, but this quickly proved unnecessary; Giratina itself appeared at the apartment and attacked the killer. Shinji did not emerge from his room until after the chaos had subsided, but when he did, he found the bloodied, damaged living room, and not even a body; only Hikari's hat remained.

blah blah alola happens later and foyet manipulates shinji

## Gallery

Reference sheet for Shinji's trainer outfit.Commission of Hikari and Shinji by purblethinks, on tumblr.Hypothetical battle screen for Hikari and Shinji.
## Trivia

* The kanji for "Ikari" used in Shinji's name means "anchor." However, with different kanji, "Ikari" can also mean "anger."
* Shinji's trainer outfit was designed by Neg and influenced by several outfits of his within the *Evangelion* canon. The color scheme for his shirt and gloves and the patterns on his undershirt were taken from his plugsuit, and his white backpack is to emulate the white armor. His pants and shoes were taken from his school uniform, and his choker is a nod to the DSS choker in *Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo.*