Sergei Samsonov
Appearance: Sergei is an young man with an intimidating look burned into him. Standing at five foot ten, his build is not muscular but certainly lithe and athletic, and very visibly built for endurance. Sergei's blonde hair is short and to the point, much like his own personality, while his eyes are a kind of swamp green. Not a particularly flashy or pretty color, but what they do have is an unmistakable sense of determination about them. Much like his eyes Segei's clothes too are not nice to look at, and reflect his lower class upbringing. Usually he can be seen wearing serviceable blue jeans, a solid colored shirt, and brown boots, almost as if it were a uniform. Not being used to warmer weather, Sergei is almost always in the habit of wearing a dirty brown jacket that has seen better days and his distinct unshanka. Usually if it gets too hot the jacket will come off, but it takes truly sweltering temperatures to get the boy to remove his hat. Alternatively, in the event of colder weather Sergei is well prepared, keeping a tattered red scarf in his backpack for when the snow kicks up.
(Larger sprite soon, I promise)
Gender: Male
Age: 15
Personality: Most people regard Sergei as being cold as the city he hails from, if not colder. Terse and to the point, Sergei inherited his father's no-nonsense attitude for better or for worse. His days are ideally divided between tireless work and training to improve both himself and his Pokemon, and then enjoying any downtime from that in solitude with his party reading books to learn as much as he can. Solitude being the key word there, as Sergei is quite the misanthrope, viewing other people who don't obsessively train and learn like he does as beneath him. This disdain is more or less universal, regardless of age or experience, if you aren't trying to meet the same high bar Sergei set for himself he'll rarely act pleasant around you; albeit he'll generally try his best to at least put up a veneer of politeness for a little while. Authority and Sergei are two concepts that don't get a long as a result. As a child he was already rowdy, but once he gained a kind of independence via becoming a trainer all bets were off. He fiercely defends his own perceived independence and try bossing him around is an easy way to draw his ire.
Unsurprisingly Sergei is unflinchingly stubborn as a result, combined with his own uncharacteristic down-to-earth pragmatism for somebody his age leads to a combination that quickly gets on the nerves of most people. Once he opens his mouth it's clear Sergei is a very intelligent young man with an knack for thinking on his feet. However he's not one to try and debate with others or push his opinion, if he doesn't like an idea someone is pushing, he'll simply ignore it and go with his own plans anyway.
These traits all lend themselves to Sergei generally keeping his distance from people, as he's predictably not the world's greatest conversationalist. On the flip-side others tend to see Sergei as socially awkward, though this doesn't really make much of an impact on him. Sociability is not part of his training regimen after all. Pokemon are a different story, Sergei enjoys the company of his partners more than anything and raises new teammates to have an attitude similar to his own. Even around Wild Pokemon, Sergei would much rather spend time with them if he can as opposed to other people. This all being said, Sergei with time can warm up to others eventually, his cold exterior melting away to bring himself to care about certain people as much as he does his Pokemon.
Hometown/Region: Snowpoint City, Sinnoh
History: Born in bitter Snowpoint City, Sergei Samsonov was the son of two decidedly blue-collar individuals, a dock worker and a housewife. The couple's only child due to necessity because of their low wages, Sergei's father constantly drilled into his son's head that only with tireless work would he be able to end up better than his parents, words that would affect his psyche in a huge way. As a kid he quickly proved to have a naturally quiet nature, something that other children would pick on him for. As a result, he spent as much time as he could away from others his age, instead taking in the natural splendor of Lake Acuity and quickly becoming friends with a good few of the wild Pokemon there. He found that he connected much more with them than the other neighborhood kids who shunned him. That isn't to say Sergei took his bullying lying down. Early on his teachers were perplexed by the fact that while he made good marks in school, Sergei would frequently steal from his classmates. These acts of spite were his a means of letting out his anger, though as his parents tried to punish this behavior out of him he soon developed a sort of early version of his "training regimen" as healthier way of blowing off steam. Though for the young Sergei this mainly manifested itself in running through the woods and reading voraciously.
Sergei knew from a young age he was going to be a Pokemon Trainer. His parents could tell as well, seeing that their son played much better with Pokemon than he did people. At around 8 years old Sergei befriended a Snover around Lake Acuity, who he named named Moroza. The Snow Tree Pokemon became his stalwart partner, and whenever it came time for him to leave on his Pokemon Journey he knew Moroza was coming with him. That day eventually game, albeit later than most. At 12 years old Sergei's parents had saved enough money for him to leave home and take on the gyms of Sinnoh. As a parting gift for the relentless effort he had always shown, his father gave him a rare Pokemon to help him on his way: A Piplup, who was promptly named Andrei. During his time around the region, Sergei finally felt like he was free from the burdens he faced back home in Snowpoint. He trained his Pokemon liberally, and managed to cruise to victory over two gyms in addition to most of the trainers he came across. For a time, his pride swelled and he felt little need to be as hard as he had once been on himself
However, disaster eventually struck.
At the third gym Sergei suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of Fatina. His team was wiped, and his self confidence burst like a balloon. For a long while Sergei wandered Sinnoh, sapped of any drive to train his Pokemon further. Eventually he wound up back home in Snowpoint, where he told his parents what had happened. While is mother welcomed him with open arms, it was the reaction of his father that "woke him up" so to speak. Expressing his severe disappointment in his son, he told him that he had failed because rather than work tirelessly and thanklessly as he always told him, he had become nothing more than a lazy bum and would not be welcome in the house unless he shaped up. The words were harsh, perhaps a bit too harsh. It drove Sergei full tilt in the opposite direction and for a year he trained relentlessly and saved up money, his personality eventually coalescing into what it is today. Along the way, he picked up a third Pokemon: a Murkrow. Perhaps a catching a dark type as a small victory of his own over that Ghost Gym. Eventually when he felt he had enough money, Sergei boarded the next boat he could to the Viore region, and a new beginning for a new him.
