Matt Chiaki

Art from The Angel of Reckoning

**Matt Chiaki** is a major protagonist in the *Operation GEAR* series. An archeologist and scientist, he is the grandson of Sutter Chiaki and the brother of Amanda Chiaki. His main goal is to learn the truth regarding a number of incidents from his past, and in *The Angel of Reckoning*, is challenging Battle Frontier facilities in order to find information on the legendary Pokémon Reshiram.

## History

Matt Chiaki was the first-born child to Fumika Chiaki and Charon Chiaki, joined a few years later by a sister named Amanda. Largely left to their own devices by their parents, Matt grew fiercely protective of his sister. His grandfather, Sutter Chiaki, provided an adult role model for the siblings during this time. It was through Sutter that Matt and Amanda developed interests in history and archeology, even in spite of their father's vehement opposition. At one point, Sutter gifted them a valuable copy of a Kalosian fairy tale, *The Prince and the Soul-Heart*.

One day, after Amanda was blinded in an accident during a scientific experiment Charon forced the siblings to assist him in, Matt resolved that they would escape from their Snowpoint City home. Even though he prepared as thoroughly as he could, his blind anger at the situation caused him to overlook key flaws in his plan, namely the vulnerability of his Rhyhorn to the harsh blizzards outside Snowpoint. As a result, Matt and Amanda were stranded in a blizzard, where they ended up being rescued by a man named Cyrus. Presenting himself as a benevolent figure, Cyrus befriended the pair and brought them to the headquarters of his energy firm in Veilstone City. While there, Matt developed the earliest prototype of a device to harness the energy of Spheres excavated from the Underground. Cyrus, revealing his true nature, stole this design for a weapon dubbed the "Galactic Bomb." Between this and the discovery that Cyrus planned to use Amanda as a test subject in a program known as Project Cortex, Matt snapped and escaped to Hoenn with Amanda.

With Sutter's aid, they settled in an apartment in Rustboro City and began attending the Rustboro School. During this time, Matt's mental state began growing unstable, prompting him to make a Secret Base behind the waterfall on Route 119 as a refuge. He and Sutter also went on a trip to Meteor Falls, where he caught a Bagon and found a stone that would later be identified as a Salamencite. Their grandfather also taught Matt and Amanda Braille to help them communicate better. Eventually, the siblings left Hoenn and, for a time, went their separate ways.

Just prior to the events of *The Gardener of Gratitude*, Matt was traveling in Lapidaria with Cassy Natsuka, collecting Spheres from different places to test ALEA with. He received a letter from Count Fernando VIII, inviting him to travel to La Ciudad Dorada and requesting that he bring the treasure he inherited from Sutter after the latter was murdered by a thief seeking it. When they went to the remote desert kingdom, they met Sheena Carnet and Eleanor Laplace before being given a tour by Fernando, who explained that his sister was collaborating with outside forces to destroy the kingdom. Matt and the others were thus tasked with following the Pilgrimage of the Pillars, a series of trials all prospective rulers of La Ciudad Dorada must face, in order to find The Golden City before Rosalita and a pair of Pokémon Hunters in her employ could. Following the resolution of this conflict, Matt and Sheena returned to Amaranth City, where they met up with Amanda at a hotel.

Over the next five years, Matt suffered a series of injuries - beginning with burns he suffered from the Heatran he later captured during the crisis in La Ciudad Dorada - that caused severe damage over much of his body. In collaboration with his mentor from the Rustboro School, Newton Graceland, he developed a series of advanced cybernetic prosthetics that he then had his body repaired with, intending to test them so they could be used to restore Amanda's sight and mobility. This technology soon allowed her to obtain a pair of prosthetic legs, while Matt continued to test the cybernetic eye to smooth out its flaws. Also during this time, Matt became the guardian of Olivia Mistbloom at the request of her father, his friend Rich Mistbloom, just prior to Rich's death.

## Trivia

* Matt made all of his clothing by hand.
* Matt's appearance incorporates a number of visual themes and references:
	+ His hat and bag are loosely based on similar articles used by the titular protagonist of the *Indiana Jones* franchise.
	+ His trench coat is most directly inspired by that worn by Kyle Reese in *The Terminator* and *Terminator Genisys*.
	+ His red scarf is based on the scarf worn by Taranza, the secondary antagonist of the 2014 video game *Kirby: Triple Deluxe*, who later became a recurring supporting character in the larger *Kirby* franchise.
	+ His shirt and pants are based on the clothing worn by Zero in a flashback in the 2008 Pokémon anime movie, *Giratina and the Sky Warrior*.
		- This clothing also provides the basis for the Rustboro School uniform; Matt's version is modified to only include the lines and diamonds on the sleeves and legs where his cybernetic implants are.
	+ The golden mask Matt wears over his cybernetic left eye is based on a similar device used by Jeremiah Gottwald in *Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2* and related media. Its purple rose eyepiece, meanwhile, is based on the purple rose covering Barasuishou's eye in *Rozen Maiden Traumend*.