Aspiring Pkmn Doctor | Asa | 16
Asa is pretty average height for his age, topping off around 5 feet 8 inches. His light brown hair is peppered with strands of premature gray that make him look older and more sinister than he actually is. (He estimates he'll have a full head of gray at 20, which he's not too pleased to think about.) His gray-green eyes look a little sunken in and tired from the gray purple rings that only add to his skin pallor. He's usually wearing a surgical mask of some kind, because not only does it help prevent other people's germs from getting to him, but it also gives a sense of anonymity that he appreciates having. The easier it is to blend into the crowd and not be noticed, the better. His choice of clothing is pretty basic so he's usually in scrubs or just jeans, tshirts, and hoodies. His favorite colors are black, pink, and gray, but he feels like pink would attract—mostly likely negative— attention to him, so he stays away from it.
Background: Asa was born to a pair of medical pokemon researchers in Mossdeep City, the technological hub of the Hoenn Region. Suffice it to say that from an early age Asa was usually tagging along to the biotechnology lab, which heavily influenced the interests he has today. Sometimes he got to see his parents work, mystified by the way they moved bottles and beakers under fume hoods, pipetting mysterious chemicals into petri dishes. Eventually the gentle whirring and humming of machines became preferable to the raucous laughter of other kids, who also teased him mercilessly about his graying hair. Not to mention by default Asa was painfully shy, so it was easier for him to bury his nose into a book rather than try to talk to people.
Around age 10, he was allowed to start helping his parents with their work. It was only small tasks a first, like washing beakers can wiping down tables. But eventually he was able to observe and work his way up to becoming quite proficient in hypothesizing and executing studies of his own. And this eventual knowledge made him realize that his parents experimented on pokemon. In hindsight, it should have been obvious. Why else had he seen empty cages that were the size of Rattata? And he'd seen anatomy posters of them as well. Meowth, Sentret, and Patrat were other pokemon he saw occasionally around the lab too.
It was a shocking revelation that tugged at his conscience. Pokemon would never want to be experimented on, but how else was medical science supposed to advance without testing? And even though he knew the painful truth, he still dreamed of one day uncovering breakthrough discoveries of his own. Maybe it's selfish, stepping over the lives of experimented pokemon to chase knowledge... He's just not sure. But he knows that he ultimately wants to help pokemon, to make up for the hurt that humans, including himself, cause them.
Asa didn't want to go to PMA, he didn't want to be a trainer. But since his mother started working there as a professor, and since the school had such high accolades, it was a no brainer that he was going. Additionally to be a pokemon doctor, pokemon medical schools are competitive and require much of their applicants. This includes being a well rounded student not just in academics, but extracurriculars too. And for many top poke-medical schools, being a trainer is an excellent experience to add to an applicant's resume. So grudgingly, Asa accepted his first pokemon and passed the exam for his trainer license about a month prior to starting school.
Though PMA has an abundance of research opportunities and he wants to be grateful for being there, it's difficult being a faculty member's kid. When students found out, many just assumed that he had been granted admission based on nepotism. Knowing that he's going to have to work even harder, Asa isn't looking forward to all the challenges the school year has to bring.
Personality: Quiet, logical, and pessimistic, Asa is usually a glass half empty type of person. On a typical day, he's quiet, kind of gloomy, and he hates anything having to do with physical exertion. He's a homebody, and he's not one for exploring the wonderful world of Pokemon unless a research grant has his name on it. That said, once his curiosity is piqued, Asa will stop at nothing to solve a problem or find some kind of scientifically sound answer.
Clinical and logical, he can seem blunt and unfeeling. He's aware that he can sound rude, that he doesn't have a lot of patience for people, so he just tries to get away with making as little conversation as possible. That said, as someone who prefers to listen, Asa enjoys helping people with their problems and figuring out solutions. As long as they don't require too much. He enjoys his sleep as much as he enjoys his studies.
Asa wonders if he can truly say he loves pokemon. He's had plenty of people tell him otherwise, calling him cold and cruel. His guilt makes him feel ashamed, that maybe he is a monster, and he doesn't deserve to love pokemon since he experiments on them. As such, he treats his pokemon more like tools or subjects than actual companions, trying to maintain a cold distance from them. Nicknames are also out of the question. Perhaps when he is a practicing pokemon doctor and has made some astounding medical discoveries, he will be able to say he does truly care about them.
Asa's insecure about his hair, but that's just a part of a bigger picture. As a confused and uncertain teen, he's insecure about a lot of things. As such, he at least tries to come off as certain and knowledgeable as he can, which can backfire and make him just seem more like a know it all. He can even be a little haughty about this, as he likes to feel like the smartest person in the room, and can be harsh when someone doesn't get something. At times, he'll brush people off just thinking that they can't offer him new perspectives or solutions because he's thought of them all. He really enjoys being correct, honestly, and sometimes that gets the better of him.
Despite him being stubborn, caustic at times, Asa wants to understand, and be understood by people. It's just that opening up is difficult.
What are some ways you would like to affect the story: I like the idea of Asa growing in a few ways during this RP. I'd like to address him being a faculty member's kid, and having to prove to some other students/ rival that he's worthy of being at PMA. Eventually, he'll realize that trying to prove things to people who don't accept him doesn't matter. I'd also like for him to come to terms with being a researcher and someone that truly loves pokemon. Find some kind of acceptance of who he is, that he's not a bad person. I also envision Asa maturing into someone who doesn't need to be right all the time.
I think a good legendary for Asa to meet might be Magearna, since it seems like a pokemon that is man-made and has some kind of background that could relate to pokemon being experimented on. Mew is another good fit, since it's often the target or being experimented on by humans as well. Not sure what other legendaries would be fitting for Asa to meet, but I'd like him to meet gentler/playful pokemon. I'm flexible though & it doesn't matter too much to me honestly.
