Name: Auren

Species: Gardevoir
Gender: Male
Type: Psychic / Fairy
Ability: Telepathy
Nature: Serious
Orientation: Pansexual

Height: 5'05" / 1.67m
Weight: 114.6 lbs. / 52.0 kg

Occupations: doctor, healer, counselor; dungeoneer, archaeologist, historian; diplomat

Likes: academia, privacy, creativity, karma, affection, music, naps, food. Lots of food.
Dislikes: loud noises, persistent noises, annoying noises, invasion of privacy, entering without knocking, very spicy food, cold temperatures, rude people. "Oran Berry" jokes based on his name.
Secrets: Eats berry jam out of the jar with a spoon. Believes himself too flawed to deserve love. Secretly addicted to sex for the emotional bliss, but usually abstains out of guilt.


Summary:
Auren is a powerful telepath and empath, giving him the ability to read minds and emotions with supernatural ease. Despite an abusive upbringing, Auren grew into a strong leader and has learned how to use these potentially dangerous mind-reading capabilities for the good of society, and seeks to use his deep intelligence to piece together the ancient mysteries of this slowly unraveling world.

Early life:
Auren is a complex individual with a peculiar history. Orphaned as a child, Auren was raised in an negative foster environment, by Pokemon who's culture found value in physical strength, toughness, and boldness--traits a small Ralts naturally lack in. Timid and weak as a boy, Auren was prone to tearful crying and was easily bullied by the other, stronger children and grossly misunderstood by the adults of the village who raised him. This lead to the Ralts living a very secluded early life, keeping himself far from others to avoid mistreatment.

Without proper psionic guidance, or even any knowledge of his natural abilities, Auren's early growth as a psychic was stunted -- as far as anyone knew, all Auren could do was Growl, Double Team, and Teleport like a coward. The boy constantly suffered from enormous headaches, and as a result was always in a bitter mood that made him difficult to deal with even on a good day. This negativity was made only worse when Auren's incredible telepathic and empathic abilities started to develop; even when those around him spoke no ill, he could hear their negative thoughts, and even when he was given a kind smile, he could hear their disgust in the back of his head. With no knowledge or understanding of his telepathy, Auren the Ralts withdrew even further into seclusion, and a deep hatred began to brew in the heart of what should have been a very innocent little boy.

Teenage years:
As Auren grew, his existence as a black sheep within the town became relatively known, but because of the distance he kept from all others around him, he was always an unknown quantity that made others uncomfortable. By this age, the Kirlia's telepathic and empathic abilities had become even stronger, but without temperance and restraint; just coming near Auren would cause the Kirlia to not only hear one's thoughts, but for his own thoughts to creep into other's minds. This caused practically every engagement with Auren to start off on the wrong foot, with deep thoughts of discomfort, anxiety, and hatred present in the minds of all involved.

As Auren grew, so too did the other children of the village. Their bullying never ceased, making Auren stubborn and hard-nosed; but the more resistant he became to the local bullies, the harder they worked to break his resistance. They would challenge his bravery, his masculinity, his guts and dare him not to flee from their unjust punishment. The Kirlia was no stranger to bruises and black eyes, but it wasn't until his early teenage years that the bullying resulted in his first broken arm. It was from this point onward that Auren ceased going to school entirely, despite his academic excellence. The Kirlia barricaded himself within his room, where he would be left in peace, and stewed in utter hatred for himself and the world around him. It was at this point that his unchecked telepathic and empathic capabilities started taking its revenge; from the seclusion of his tiny room, his sorrow and hatred unknowingly spread like a pall of darkness to the entire town, turning the already prideful minds of hardy villagers into suddenly aggressive and rueful thugs.

The drama and discord that resulted from this unknown, telepathic plague soon prompted an series of official investigations from various Rescue Guilds and Exploration Societies, as the once peaceful little town was now under attack by the crime and chaos set by its own townsfolk. It was these joint investigations that ultimately lead to the discovery of the suffering Kirlia, and after analysis of the situation by the joint staff's Psychic-, Ghost-, and Dark-types, it was decided that Auren would be removed from his abusive foster hometown and treated for his mental ailments. The anger and discord that enveloped the town disappeared immediately following the young telepath's removal.

The elder Psychics could feel the darkness that had been planted in his young mind, and feared that without correction and care, Auren would undoubtedly become a mind-reading mastermind capable of outrageous crimes. Under the wise and watchful eyes of the Guild that took him in, Auren began to learn the true nature of his psionic abilities, and the misery of his past life slowly began to make sense. For the first time, the people around him not only seemed to care about him, but legitimately DID care about him -- all the way down to their deepest thoughts. No matter how politely they curated their thoughts, Auren was always aware of the truth: that he needed help to overcome his upbringing, or else he would become a menace. Though the boy had been beaten and bruised both mentally and physically, he showed excellence in academia and a love for learning about the brand new world around him. This deep craving for learning became the bridge that slowly transformed the Kirlia from a psychological threat, to an accomplished student that was quickly surpassing even his teachers in intellect.

Adulthood:
After years of study and rehabilitation, Auren slowly but surely came to terms with his battered youth and somehow became all the stronger for it. The watchful, merciful guidance of his tutors slowly nursed Auren back to good health, and revealed his true, long-suppressed personality: a kind-hearted and affectionate young man with a deep desire to make a lasting impact on the lives of those around him. His ability to sense the thoughts and emotions of others gave him a talent for warm, sensitive language that allowed him to get to the heart of problems. However, Auren doesn't simply read minds for this; he learned that there is nothing more sacred and personal than one's innermost thoughts, and to invade, read, and manipulate the sheer thoughts of another is the deepest sin that could be committed. Instead, he was taught to use traces of his telepathic insight to help ease his conversation partner into a positive mindset and ease them into revealing prudent information on their own terms, in their own words.

Auren's incredible psychic talent also lent itself keenly to battle, exploration, and rescue efforts -- especially once his experience and insight finally paved the way into his Final Evolution. As a Gardevoir, Auren cultivated his years of extrasensory learning to become an effective teammate and efficient doctor, combatant, and defender. This Gardevoir is well-studied, and has access to a variety of movesets that can benefit any team. He prefers to serve by acting as the group healer and defender with Heal Pulse and wards like Reflect, but he can also serve admirably by acting as a terrifyingly powerful Special Attacker with access to a dynamic range of elemental techniques; or by acting as a tactician capable of inflicting his foes with a myriad of status effects.

Now a full-grown Gardevoir with his life set straight in his hands, Auren seeks to learn more about the deeper mysteries of this shape-shifting world. He wants to learn everything about anything, and anything about everything. The Gardevoir has developed a passion for collecting ancient relics, studying them, and putting them on display for the benefit of society's collective knowledge.

Artwork by  Ohmuu