Post by nitorin on Jan 3, 2013 0:37:34 GMT -8
Cheren Jusuk Raev
Male || 17 years of age || Gym Leader
|| Born 19 April ||
Personality: Cheren pays attention to social niceties, and though he may sometimes come across as blunt or unfriendly, he’s rarely openly discourteous. He tends to be reserved, however, and keep his feelings to himself - not out of embarrassment but simply out of a lack of confidence in sentimental matters. He is observant and a deep thinker, to the point of being over-analytical and paranoid regarding his own and others’ feelings. Because of this, Cheren does not ‘listen to his heart’ as opposed to his head and often has trouble trusting others. Despite this, however, he is almost always honest when confronted directly about his feelings, and can be surprisingly vulnerable and easily bruised, if one knows his weak points.
Though he is the youngest of his friends, he hates being treated like a child and tries hard to be mature - this manifests in a tendency to take everything far too seriously, worry a lot and sometimes lack a sense of humour. He does not take kindly to being patronised or made the butt of jokes, and is exceptionally good at stonily glaring down those who fall out of his favour. He’s quick to irritate and, when angered, snarky and spiteful. He consciously avoids swearing, though.
Cheren’s strengths can be more or less summarised thus - he is sensible and level-headed, and seldom acts without thinking things through; he is generally very rational and rarely ever treats others unfairly. He never blames his failures as a trainer on his Pokémon, and they coexist in a state of mutual respect and affection. He’s driven and ambitious (though perhaps to a fault), as well as honest and articulate. Cheren is not easily overwhelmed by fear or anger and functions very well under pressure. Essentially, he is quite kindhearted and selfless, though often blinded by his ambition and insecurity; given the opportunity, Cheren will go to whatever lengths possible to ensure the happiness of his loved ones.
In terms of his weaknesses, Cheren is articulate and opinionated about everything except himself and, when it comes to his deeper feelings and opinions, finds it difficult to open up to others. He greatly fears failure but at the same time, doesn’t really seem to believe he can succeed (and, in his darker moments, even resigns himself to it). He wants badly to be acknowledged for his talents, and sometimes finds himself measuring his worth by others’ opinions of him, despite his insistence that he doesn’t care. Cheren hates to ask for help - it feels to him like an admission of his own inferiority. Finally, he is inclined to self-pity and has a tendency to blow problems up in his head and blame himself for problems completely beyond his control.
He dislikes cold weather, being belittled and most junk foods. He likes being kept busy (even if he moans about it), reading and his friends.
In a nutshell - Cheren is frigid, blunt, snarky, self-absorbed, insecure and often petulant, but honest, observant, hard-working, serious, intelligent, level-headed and essentially good-hearted.
Backstory: Cheren was born in Nuvema Town to conservative, whitebread parents Stefan Raev and Hyoshin Seo, high school sweethearts who tried very hard to bring Cheren up to be their carefree, neat and tidy ideal. His father, a well-meaning but crude and tactless tradesman of Slavic descent, works with Pokémon in his daily life but has never trained one himself and does not quite understand the appeal, while his mother, a highly strung and immaculately presented housewife with an education and background that far exceeds her present lifestyle, has not much experience with them outside of a childhood pet. He was not expected to grow up to become a Pokémon trainer, especially given the perfectionism and academic drive that his parents had drilled into him from birth; as a result, before he began to venture outside of Nuvema Town with his small circle of close friends, he had very little experience with Pokémon himself growing up.
As a child, Cheren was timid, bookish and easily frightened, but not at all unhappy. He devoured whatever literature he could lay his hands on, ever looking to broaden his horizons, to find heroes upon which to model himself. His sheltered and cerebral upbringing ironically instilled in him a strong curiosity about the wide world and a longing to be different, to go above and beyond. As the combined result of this and the subconscious influence of his ultra-masculine father - everything the shy, slight, serious Cheren wasn't - he fixated early in life on the ideal of Championship and all of the strength and masculinity that came with it. It could likely be said that the young Cheren's self-image was incredibly negative - that same sheltered intellectualism with which he was raised had left him with a lack of understanding of or patience with his own emotions and a strong innate perception of himself as inferior to others, one who needed to prove his worth through accomplishments in order to earn the attention, affection and respect of others - and it was owing to this insecurity that he became so obsessed with the idea of strength and superiority, becoming the best of the best. Surely, he believed - not consciously (if he had been confronted with this as a child, he would have scoffed at the very idea, insisting he'd never let his future be dictated by such irrational neuroses), but deep down - if he were to attain true strength, his peers would acknowledge him, his parents would come to be proud of him, and he would finally be a person worthy of admiration and respect. This is not to say that he was lonely or mistreated by his friends - to this day, he considers Hilbert, Hilda and Bianca to be the three most important people in his life, and upon many occasions would have been utterly lost without their companionship - but he often found himself inexplicably fearing rejection or embarrassment at their hands even so.
And so it was that Cheren decided that his future was in training Pokémon, and not just training but mastery, Championship, at the age of ten. He began preparing for this goal immediately with every intention - and every expectation - of blowing the world away. Reality came as a rude shock - his first ever Pokémon battle, aged fourteen, resulted in a loss, and to his utter frustration he subsequently discovered that despite his best efforts he had very little natural ability as a Pokémon trainer. The accomplishments that came to him through painstaking, exhaustive, all-consuming effort - plainly unsustainable - seemed to present themselves easily to Hilbert and Hilda without the latter two's having to try at all. A blow to his pride even greater still was that the problem was clearly not with his Pokémon, to whom he quickly became close and who shared his ambition and his drive to achieve; the problem was with him. His encounters with Champion Alder at first only served to heighten his frustration and resentment - it was inconceivable to Cheren that he could have any sort of worth outside of his abilities as a trainer.
The revelation of his friend's role as a prophesied Hero, the only one who could stop the villainous Team Plasma, was all but too much for Cheren. He understood well the severity of the situation, that it was no time for such pettiness, but this only heightened his jealousy and resentment. The young Hero did not even want their role, had no interest in world-saving or even Championship, for heaven's sake, and here had been Cheren for all these years with fingers crossed for an opportunity - and yet he knew that he lacked the skill in any case. What was strength, in any case - why did he need it so desperately, what would he do even if he managed to attain it? Overcome by confusion and with little confidence in himself, Cheren isolated himself terribly following the fall of Team Plasma and fell into near despair, training day and night, trying and failing again and again to prove his strength in Unova's Pokémon League. The problem was that Cheren was no longer entirely sure what that really meant - and that the more he thought about what it was he really wanted, the less sure he was.
Finally, shortly after his fifteenth birthday, he returned home to Nuvema Town to find his parents overcome with worry and disapproval and his friends all having moved on. Finally, Cheren was forced to confront his self-absorption and resentfulness, his failure, his weakness and ultimately, the worst of all - his own lack of self-esteem. To look at himself so honestly and openly was incredibly humbling and Cheren resolved to leave his old petty, resentful self in the past and move on from his childhood dream. It was easier said than done, of course. Cheren spent almost a year subsequently traveling to other regions, taking volunteer jobs and meeting people, trying hard to step outside of himself and reevaluate his life and his goals, and many of his nights were spent tossing and turning as he struggled with the disappointment and frustration that had plagued him for the past two years. Ultimately, though, when he returned to Unova it was as a changed person, and when he got wind of the soon-to-be-opened Trainer's School and Gym in another town, he expressed interest.
To his considerable surprise, he was given the job not long after his sixteenth birthday and soon found himself head teacher to the the Aspertia City Trainer's School. As it happened, Cheren found himself enjoying the job immensely - quite aside from the peace of mind and fulfilment that came with having moved past his old ambitions, he liked the feeling of being relied upon and respected by the children, and more than that he loved to see others benefiting from what he had to offer. But he was still hopelessly attached to battling and the highlight of his job was, of course, the Gym Battles - which kicked off with his meeting with Nate, Rosa and Hugh. Having himself useful to them, as well as watched Team Plasma's final downfall, Cheren feels that he has come to terms with himself and has begun to look forward to the future with a quiet determination, believing he has at last come into his own.
Appearance: Cheren is small and slight of build, standing at a nondescript 5'8'', with black hair and blue-grey eyes. For the most part, he's inherited his mother's features, with a mild-looking oval face and a small heart-shaped mouth, but his long, sharp nose and clear blue eyes are from his father. His body is an occasional source of embarrassment to Cheren, who has long endured snarky comments on his prominent hips and effeminate legs, but for the most part he has better things to worry about. Besides, years of traveling and training have left him with a surprisingly lean, athletic figure, although he remains narrow-shouldered and generally small.
Pokémon
|| Gym Partners ||
Violet || ♀ || Adamant || Highly curious.
Klaus || ♂ || Careful || Good endurance.
Sunny || ♀ || Impish || Likes to thrash about.
Male || 17 years of age || Gym Leader
|| Born 19 April ||
Personality: Cheren pays attention to social niceties, and though he may sometimes come across as blunt or unfriendly, he’s rarely openly discourteous. He tends to be reserved, however, and keep his feelings to himself - not out of embarrassment but simply out of a lack of confidence in sentimental matters. He is observant and a deep thinker, to the point of being over-analytical and paranoid regarding his own and others’ feelings. Because of this, Cheren does not ‘listen to his heart’ as opposed to his head and often has trouble trusting others. Despite this, however, he is almost always honest when confronted directly about his feelings, and can be surprisingly vulnerable and easily bruised, if one knows his weak points.
Though he is the youngest of his friends, he hates being treated like a child and tries hard to be mature - this manifests in a tendency to take everything far too seriously, worry a lot and sometimes lack a sense of humour. He does not take kindly to being patronised or made the butt of jokes, and is exceptionally good at stonily glaring down those who fall out of his favour. He’s quick to irritate and, when angered, snarky and spiteful. He consciously avoids swearing, though.
Cheren’s strengths can be more or less summarised thus - he is sensible and level-headed, and seldom acts without thinking things through; he is generally very rational and rarely ever treats others unfairly. He never blames his failures as a trainer on his Pokémon, and they coexist in a state of mutual respect and affection. He’s driven and ambitious (though perhaps to a fault), as well as honest and articulate. Cheren is not easily overwhelmed by fear or anger and functions very well under pressure. Essentially, he is quite kindhearted and selfless, though often blinded by his ambition and insecurity; given the opportunity, Cheren will go to whatever lengths possible to ensure the happiness of his loved ones.
In terms of his weaknesses, Cheren is articulate and opinionated about everything except himself and, when it comes to his deeper feelings and opinions, finds it difficult to open up to others. He greatly fears failure but at the same time, doesn’t really seem to believe he can succeed (and, in his darker moments, even resigns himself to it). He wants badly to be acknowledged for his talents, and sometimes finds himself measuring his worth by others’ opinions of him, despite his insistence that he doesn’t care. Cheren hates to ask for help - it feels to him like an admission of his own inferiority. Finally, he is inclined to self-pity and has a tendency to blow problems up in his head and blame himself for problems completely beyond his control.
He dislikes cold weather, being belittled and most junk foods. He likes being kept busy (even if he moans about it), reading and his friends.
In a nutshell - Cheren is frigid, blunt, snarky, self-absorbed, insecure and often petulant, but honest, observant, hard-working, serious, intelligent, level-headed and essentially good-hearted.
Backstory: Cheren was born in Nuvema Town to conservative, whitebread parents Stefan Raev and Hyoshin Seo, high school sweethearts who tried very hard to bring Cheren up to be their carefree, neat and tidy ideal. His father, a well-meaning but crude and tactless tradesman of Slavic descent, works with Pokémon in his daily life but has never trained one himself and does not quite understand the appeal, while his mother, a highly strung and immaculately presented housewife with an education and background that far exceeds her present lifestyle, has not much experience with them outside of a childhood pet. He was not expected to grow up to become a Pokémon trainer, especially given the perfectionism and academic drive that his parents had drilled into him from birth; as a result, before he began to venture outside of Nuvema Town with his small circle of close friends, he had very little experience with Pokémon himself growing up.
As a child, Cheren was timid, bookish and easily frightened, but not at all unhappy. He devoured whatever literature he could lay his hands on, ever looking to broaden his horizons, to find heroes upon which to model himself. His sheltered and cerebral upbringing ironically instilled in him a strong curiosity about the wide world and a longing to be different, to go above and beyond. As the combined result of this and the subconscious influence of his ultra-masculine father - everything the shy, slight, serious Cheren wasn't - he fixated early in life on the ideal of Championship and all of the strength and masculinity that came with it. It could likely be said that the young Cheren's self-image was incredibly negative - that same sheltered intellectualism with which he was raised had left him with a lack of understanding of or patience with his own emotions and a strong innate perception of himself as inferior to others, one who needed to prove his worth through accomplishments in order to earn the attention, affection and respect of others - and it was owing to this insecurity that he became so obsessed with the idea of strength and superiority, becoming the best of the best. Surely, he believed - not consciously (if he had been confronted with this as a child, he would have scoffed at the very idea, insisting he'd never let his future be dictated by such irrational neuroses), but deep down - if he were to attain true strength, his peers would acknowledge him, his parents would come to be proud of him, and he would finally be a person worthy of admiration and respect. This is not to say that he was lonely or mistreated by his friends - to this day, he considers Hilbert, Hilda and Bianca to be the three most important people in his life, and upon many occasions would have been utterly lost without their companionship - but he often found himself inexplicably fearing rejection or embarrassment at their hands even so.
And so it was that Cheren decided that his future was in training Pokémon, and not just training but mastery, Championship, at the age of ten. He began preparing for this goal immediately with every intention - and every expectation - of blowing the world away. Reality came as a rude shock - his first ever Pokémon battle, aged fourteen, resulted in a loss, and to his utter frustration he subsequently discovered that despite his best efforts he had very little natural ability as a Pokémon trainer. The accomplishments that came to him through painstaking, exhaustive, all-consuming effort - plainly unsustainable - seemed to present themselves easily to Hilbert and Hilda without the latter two's having to try at all. A blow to his pride even greater still was that the problem was clearly not with his Pokémon, to whom he quickly became close and who shared his ambition and his drive to achieve; the problem was with him. His encounters with Champion Alder at first only served to heighten his frustration and resentment - it was inconceivable to Cheren that he could have any sort of worth outside of his abilities as a trainer.
The revelation of his friend's role as a prophesied Hero, the only one who could stop the villainous Team Plasma, was all but too much for Cheren. He understood well the severity of the situation, that it was no time for such pettiness, but this only heightened his jealousy and resentment. The young Hero did not even want their role, had no interest in world-saving or even Championship, for heaven's sake, and here had been Cheren for all these years with fingers crossed for an opportunity - and yet he knew that he lacked the skill in any case. What was strength, in any case - why did he need it so desperately, what would he do even if he managed to attain it? Overcome by confusion and with little confidence in himself, Cheren isolated himself terribly following the fall of Team Plasma and fell into near despair, training day and night, trying and failing again and again to prove his strength in Unova's Pokémon League. The problem was that Cheren was no longer entirely sure what that really meant - and that the more he thought about what it was he really wanted, the less sure he was.
Finally, shortly after his fifteenth birthday, he returned home to Nuvema Town to find his parents overcome with worry and disapproval and his friends all having moved on. Finally, Cheren was forced to confront his self-absorption and resentfulness, his failure, his weakness and ultimately, the worst of all - his own lack of self-esteem. To look at himself so honestly and openly was incredibly humbling and Cheren resolved to leave his old petty, resentful self in the past and move on from his childhood dream. It was easier said than done, of course. Cheren spent almost a year subsequently traveling to other regions, taking volunteer jobs and meeting people, trying hard to step outside of himself and reevaluate his life and his goals, and many of his nights were spent tossing and turning as he struggled with the disappointment and frustration that had plagued him for the past two years. Ultimately, though, when he returned to Unova it was as a changed person, and when he got wind of the soon-to-be-opened Trainer's School and Gym in another town, he expressed interest.
To his considerable surprise, he was given the job not long after his sixteenth birthday and soon found himself head teacher to the the Aspertia City Trainer's School. As it happened, Cheren found himself enjoying the job immensely - quite aside from the peace of mind and fulfilment that came with having moved past his old ambitions, he liked the feeling of being relied upon and respected by the children, and more than that he loved to see others benefiting from what he had to offer. But he was still hopelessly attached to battling and the highlight of his job was, of course, the Gym Battles - which kicked off with his meeting with Nate, Rosa and Hugh. Having himself useful to them, as well as watched Team Plasma's final downfall, Cheren feels that he has come to terms with himself and has begun to look forward to the future with a quiet determination, believing he has at last come into his own.
Appearance: Cheren is small and slight of build, standing at a nondescript 5'8'', with black hair and blue-grey eyes. For the most part, he's inherited his mother's features, with a mild-looking oval face and a small heart-shaped mouth, but his long, sharp nose and clear blue eyes are from his father. His body is an occasional source of embarrassment to Cheren, who has long endured snarky comments on his prominent hips and effeminate legs, but for the most part he has better things to worry about. Besides, years of traveling and training have left him with a surprisingly lean, athletic figure, although he remains narrow-shouldered and generally small.
Pokémon
|| Gym Partners ||
Violet || ♀ || Adamant || Highly curious. Klaus || ♂ || Careful || Good endurance. Sunny || ♀ || Impish || Likes to thrash about.