>>44776416N is encountered pretty sparingly in the game until the climax of the story. You first meet and fight him in the first town and then the second time you meet and battle him is at the second gym. Cheren, on the otherhand, you meet more often until the mid-way point of the story and is at start of the game. Calem/Serena is also like that, but because of that, it's important to differentiate how much of a challenge they pose as rivals. In that regard, from my experiences, Cheren beats Calem/Serena in this but because of that fight after Castelia City.
