When it comes to proposals, however, Tyson would likely be much more subdued. It would naturally depend on the person he was proposing to, but - with the most likely candidates having been Kim and Sebastian - it would be a safe bet to say that Tyson’s propose would be low key.
It certainly wouldn’t be going out to dinner, his anxiety is bad enough as it is, and definitely not a - completely - surprise proposal; talk of getting engaged in the future would have needed to be on the table first.
He would absolutely already have a ring on hand for this proposal, in his bag or pocket for months before he figured out exactly how to do it. With someone like Kim, who put a high value on craft and personal effort, Tyson would favour using one of his own metal gift boxes. With someone like Sebastian, who does care about skilled craftsmanship but puts a higher value on tradition, Tyson would use a normal ring box.
By the time he was ready to propose, Tyson would have a speech maybe thirty per cent written out and a general framework for a further twenty. Regardless of how much Tyson had figured out to say beforehand, it would all go out of the window once he started actually talking.
With Kimiko, Tyson would have likely opened by walking in, saying ‘catch’, and tossing the box over to her. Then after gauging the response, and likely getting a hopeful ‘yeah?’ and coy smile from Kim, Tyson would go down onto one knee and offer his proposal properly; and probably only get a few sentences in before she got impatient and just tackled him into a hug.
With Sebastian, Tyson would make more of an effort towards doing things more traditionally. He would take him out stargazing somewhere, having Sebastian sit on a rock whilst Tyson sat on the ground leant against his legs like he normally would. Then he could easily turn around to be knelt on one knee, and balance the box on Sebastian’s knee.
Since he was twenty-three-years-old, Tyson has been cutting his own hair.
He began cutting his own hair during his relationship with Kim. Tyson mentioned to her that he always felt stressed whenever scissors or clippers were taken to his head, always fearing an attack, and Kimiko asked why he didn’t just cut it himself.
That question dumbstruck Tyson. He had never really considered it an option before. It took him a while to get used to doing it right, but these days, though he largely uses a mixture of scissors, thinning scissors, and clippers, Tyson can even cut his hair properly using only the straight razor he uses to shave.
At this point, it’s largely muscle memory as Tyson always cuts his hair at roughly the same time; before it’s noticeably any different from its usual puffy nature. As such, he isn’t great at having to cut anyone else’s hair, but he can do a decent job.
Tyson’s most obvious heartbreaks are from Kim and Sebastian.
However, they are far from the only ones to break his heart. For all his plethora of trust issues, Tyson hands over his heart far too easily.
There was also Peter Campbell, one of the people Tyson’s father paid to pretend to be Tyson’s friend; Lee, the French student in Tyson’s military history class who still makes his heart flutter to think of; Geoffrey, one of his fellow strategists in the army who got engaged in the time it took him to find his confidence; and too many others to count.
Tyson doesn’t so much offer his heart out, as throw it as hard as he can at an impassible wall, then somehow seems surprised when he gets hurt.
That said, Tyson handles heartbreak far too well. He is content to pine - to hurt and hurt - so long as the other person is happy, wherever they are.
As mentioned here, Tyson’s ideal Pokémon team is as follows.
Within his Pokémon AU, Tyson has, used to have, or someone he cares about deeply/could have been in another lifetime has one of these Pokémon.
His Pokémon AU isn’t about Tyson having his ideal Pokémon. It’s Tyson working with a squadron of many Pokémon as his needs change, often working with Pokémon he isn’t as close to in order to achieve a specific thing or training Pokémon for other people.
He has many Pokémon on his team that don’t particularly suit him, but Tyson came across them injured and couldn’t bear to leave them. Unlikely friendships made along the way. It’s a more ‘realistic’ ensemble and, as such, some of the Pokémon that would be perfect for Tyson are not on his team.
Tyson used to have his perfect match Pokémon, Raichu, until it was gifted to his nephew James; now nicknamed Rai.
If Tyson could only have one Pokémon, it would be Raichu. Raichu is Tyson’s perfect match, which is why Tyson needed to give away his own Raichu to his nephew James.
Beyond wanting to avoid too closely paralleling Ash and his Pikachu, it made more sense with Tyson’s sense of rivalry/competitiveness to have Lucario as his partner than the too complimentary Raichu.
A buddy-cop system, rather than two identical idiots running around together.
Raichu was the perfect Pokémon for Tyson to have previously. To be a lingering sense of nostalgia for him, even as he proudly watches Rai grow with his nephew James.
A sense of what could have been, had he walked a different path, away from The Colonel and the Moriarty Mirrors.
Raichu represents something of a core-tenant about Tyson’s personality.
Regardless of verse or thread, Tyson is loyal, he is a mathematical prodigy, he is an anxious ball of stress held together by a stubborn refusal to die, despite that our little Icarus is completely self-sacrificing, despite that he refuses to take ‘unnecessary’ risks, and Raichu is Tyson’s perfect partner Pokémon.
Tyson’s view of Sebastian’s Gyarados are rather similar to his view of the man himself; simultaneously adoring and in awe, and utterly, bone-deep terrified of her.
Tyson has always adored Gyarados as a Pokémon. Racing between islands on Leviathan’s back, his arms wrapped around Sebastian from behind, Tyson felt as though anything was possible. The same feeling he feels with his Steelix. Untouchable.
The only reason Tyson doesn’t have a Gyarados is that it suits The Colonel better. It’s that simple. Even with their similarities, there are enough differences between them that Tyson could reasonably have both a Gyarados and a Steelix.
If only one could be chosen, then Tyson’s strength as a Ground and Steel trainer would give Steelix a heavy bias, but on his ideal team, Tyson’s Ground-type bias is already heavily covered by Pokémon that suit him more than Steelix. That raw strength that Gyarados invokes, it resonates with Tyson.
Gyarados pairs fantastically with Tyson’s favouritism towards large Pokémon and his love of the water. On his ideal Pokémon team, Gyarados was an obvious choice. Whilst argument could be made for other Pokémon, there was no other choice that could have taken Gyarados’s place.
In many ways, Gyarados is perfect for Tyson. However, at the end of the day, it made more sense for The Colonel to have a Gyarados and Tyson to be in awe of them both. That will always be his lot in life.
The reasons for excluding Aipom from Tyson’s Pokémon AU are much simpler: Ambipom does not suit Tyson as much as an Aipom.
His verses are not completely static. Like his main!verse, things can change and develop. His team’s move set can change, their level can change, and they can evolve. Locking only one of his Pokémon into never evolving wouldn’t make sense.
When it came to making Kimiko’s team, Aipom was an obvious choice. It matches her to a T. They share that untameable free-spirit that Tyson was so enamoured by. There is an energy to Aipom that perfectly matches up with Kim.
Those qualities were what made Aipom an obvious choice for Tyson’s ideal team, an embodiment of the things Tyson cares about and his refusal to be caged, and what made it so difficult to exclude an Aipom on the bases of a less ideal evolution.
Though he no longer has it, Lex used to have a Torterra. Tyson could never have been Lex, but Lex could have been Tyson.
Torterra was excluded from Tyson’s team for the same reasons that Raichu and Gyarados were: they were too perfect a match for Tyson to have.
Ground Pokémon are ideal for him. He favours large bulky Pokémon (or small very fast Pokémon, see Aipom, Lycanroc, & Raichu). He favours kind and gentle Pokémon that can still pack a punch. He adores Discworld and the concept of world turtles as a whole.
He already has two of the starter Pokémon, two grass starter Pokémon even, and thematically those made more sense for Tyson to have in his Pokémon AU where things aren’t ideal. Snivy as an Unova starter, with his father trying to force Tyson into the upper-class family legacy, was a necessity.
Where Torterra matches Tyson’s personality and the things he cares about better, Chespin made more sense for him to have as a way of reflecting how sweet precious Tyson built up armour and defences over time. Tanking every hit that’s thrown at him and remaining standing.
In so far as Torterra being Lex’s Pokémon, in another life, Lex could easily have ended up where Tyson is today. Tyson could never have strayed onto Lex’s path, but the reverse would have been all too easy. Lex isn’t the opposite to Tyson, but an alternative. A slightly twisted, carnival mirror reflection of Tyson.
The man who Lex is today would not suit a Torterra, but before then, when he was younger and stumbling to find his footing, Torterra matched that Lex. The less jaded one, not hiding behind bravado and endless lies because it was easier than hurting, but the one that would plant his feet and tried his best.
Hippowdon
Hal had a Hippowdon called Cain. If chance had worked out differently, Tyson could have been Hal.
Hippowdon makes Tyson’s ideal Pokémon team for almost all the same reasons that Torterra does.
It just makes perfect sense for Hippowdon to be on Tyson’s team. Too much sense.
If Tyson has a Hippowdon, it wouldn’t have worked for Tyson to have a Steelix or a Donphan: being a comfortable middle ground between both for Tyson. However, the point of Tyson’s Pokémon AU is that he uses not perfect Pokémon and a wider array of Pokémon to suit specific needs.
There is more variety for him, more versatility, by having Donphan and Steelix than merely Hippowdon. Hippowdon may be a 10/10 match for Tyson, but two 9/10s is better for him in the end.
Hal and Tyson are - purposefully - very similar. In another life, that could have been Tyson. The tragic soldier who died doing his duty, no matter what, rather than dragged off by Sebastian Moran and tangled up in the Moriarty Mirrors’ web.
The Pokémon chosen for NPCs within Tyson’s world are their ideal teams. Tyson cannot have his ideal team, but Hal can and Hal suits a Hippowdon perfectly.
Lycanroc
And Tyson currently has a (Midday form) Lycanroc, called Remus.
Tyson and dogs go hand-in-hand.
Lycanroc (and Ruffrock before it) are rock puppies.
Of course, Tyson was going to have a Lycanroc.
The very second Lycanroc was revealed in generation seven, the first thought was: that Pokémon belongs to Tyson.
For every other Pokémon from Tyson’s ideal team, with the exception of Raichu, a clear argument could be made for why it would be better utilised on another character’s team instead. In the case of Raichu, the perfect match was 10000% too perfect to use.
In the case of Lycanroc, it wasn’t better suited to anyone else and Lycanroc wasn’t too perfect for the Pokémon AU either. Make no mistake, Lycanroc (regardless of form, but especially Midday form) is perfect for Tyson.
However, Lycanroc comfortably fits into a niche in Tyson’s team in a way that means, when appropriate, he can be substituted for other Pokémon on Tyson’s team rather than being an unmoving always; which wouldn’t suit his constantly rotating team of Pokémon.
Donphan provides things that Lycanroc cannot, yet the reverse is also true. Steelix and Lucario provide things that Lycanroc cannot, and yet the reverse is also true. Lycanroc comfortably fits around Tyson’s 9/10 matches in a way that doesn’t feel forced as making space for Raichu would.
Everyone has songs that hold a special place in their heart.
For Tyson, some of those songs are:
Bat out of Hell - Meat Loaf Whenever Tyson found Kim doing her carpentry, she was almost guaranteed to be listening to that song if not something from the same album.
“If it helps place the memory, I believe that, at the time, you chose to outwardly accept the answer of parkouring around London to show off for a pretty face at its face value, to avoid outing me - in several definitions of the phrase - in front of the nurse.”
“In truth,” Tyson sighed and rubbed at the side of his face, as though that would scrub away the memory of his impact with the pavement. “Well, I did actually take a tumble on a rain-slick rooftop and injure the arm in my emergency landing, that wasn’t a lie, but I was running away from a mutual acquaintance rather than trying to show off for him.” A beat and then, “Alright, mostly running. It’s always a little about trying to show off when he’s around, even at peril of life and limb. I’m fairly certain you’ve told me off for doing that as well, John.” [x]
“Alright, I’ll tell you what, I’ll promise that I’ll stop risking myself for… well, blanket term, let’s say ‘the dangerous people that I’m stupid enough to fall in love with,’ if….” [x]
He may, in fact, be completely incapable of stopping himself from showing off for a pretty face. Around Sebastian Moran, this applies twice over. He can’t help that competitive instinct around Moran or the Moriarty Mirrors, but even around people that Tyson is simply crushing on, he feels like he has to prove himself.
If he isn’t doing an unnecessary backflip when running away from The Colonel, Tyson is doing upside-down crunches from a tree branch to show off for Kim. If he isn’t working himself to the bone to please the Moriarty Mirrors, Tyson is tripping over himself to impress the latest person to catch his eye; even as he tries to distance himself from them to protect himself, and them.
If it will get him a second of the sun’s attention, our little Icarus will hurl himself off of cliffs - or, more accurately, rooftops - over and over again.
Kimiko was fun and free. Wild. Fireflies in the night, always just out of reach, dancing around him and tempting him in, like a silk ribbon slipping through his fingers. The playful burst of a sparkler, its smoke disappearing with the wind. Always a game with Kim. Fun and free. Never to last. Never to keep.
And Tyson doesn’t regret a single second of it.
He will always be glad that he took the time to trade in compound chores with other soliders for out of compound time with Kim, and Tyson will always be grateful to Hal for trading chores to help get that time with her; and for providing him with a clean shirt when he returned with lipstick stains on his collar.
Or boxers when Tyson had to go commando to convince Kim to wear one item of clothing for a little while. Though, sometimes, having Kimiko dancing around her kitchen in his boxers was more distracting than watching her skipping around naked. Once their relationship ended, Tyson ended up keeping her green jacket.
She always smelt of coconut shampoo and citrus shower gel, but Kim could never fully wash away the scent of sawdust and grass stains. Those scents always remind Tyson of her. Especially sawdust.
He treasures every little cut in his hands from learning to whittle with Kim and, even though it was months after their first kiss, Tyson’s lips will still tingle so vividly with the memory of Kim kissing him, voice singing with pride and praise in a language he didn’t understand, the first time he carved something vaguely recognisable.
She cared deeply, but Kimiko could be a little stuck up and elitist when people weren’t quite as carefree and unreserved as she was. Kim’s way of life was free and flowing, always on the move, but she was stubbornly set in her ways of that being the best way to live. The only way to truly live.
Kim was too laid back to stress about things that she really needed to stress about, like late bills or her tests coming up that she hasn’t studied for. She failed her drivers test twice for her car, but passed her motorbike test the first time with flying colours.
She hated vodka with a passion, but would always do shots regardless of what was in them. Kim would say that she loved fruity wine, and she did like it, but secretly she liked a glass of whiskey best whilst sitting on her porch to whittle; working on a personal project after a long day of carpentry for other people.
Kim told Tyson that she thought it tasted better because it was traditional, but she bucked tradition at practically every turn. The only exception was family. Kim would do anything for her family. She always wanted to be a mom. Two kids, a boy and a girl. A little cottage made by her own hands. That was her dream.
Though Kimiko was Vietnamese, her first name is Japanese after her great-grandmother on her father’s side of the family. Kim knew Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean, and English. She was also conversational in Chinese, but struggled when writing it.
She referred to Tyson with the Vietnamese pronoun of em, but having grown up with a Japanese speaking extended family in the house, Kimiko tended to merge it with the Japanese honorifics system: calling him Ty-Em.
She always preferred to go by Kim rather than Kimiko or Kimi, but whenever she called him Ty-Em, Tyson would reply by calling her Kimi-san, which would always get a giggle out of her.
Kim had an impossibly sweet tooth. From pouring far too much honey on her morning toast to being able to pinpoint any stall selling sticky-sweet treats at the market, Kimiko loved sugar.
It was fun. It was all just a game, and Tyson knew it would hurt like hell when it ended, but he treasures every precious moment with Kim.
